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Vasco Grilo

Vasco shares why effective giving is important to him. This post is also available in Portuguese. 

Member Profile: Vasco Grilo

We recently spoke with Vasco Grilo from Portugal. He shared with us his effective giving story, including what motivates him to give and what issues he cares about the most. This story is available in Portuguese below.

Falámos recentemente com o Vasco Grilo de Portugal. Ele partilhou connosco a sua história de doações eficazes, incluindo o que o motiva a doar e quais as questões que mais o preocupam. Esta história está disponível abaixo em português.

Tell us about yourself, what keeps you busy, what makes you tick.

I enjoy contributing to a better world, via my own work, or helping others to do that!

Tell us about your effective giving journey.

I noticed that I had great grades, and was following a somewhat predictable life trajectory of a good citizen, but was not convinced of my actual impact on shaping a better world. By coming across effective altruism, a philosophy and social movement focussed on maximising the good we can do with our careers, money and life decisions, I understood that I actually had a great opportunity to make a difference. One example is via effective donations. I can save a life with a few thousand dollars!

Why do you give? (What motivated you to give originally. What keeps you motivated now.)

I give because I want to see a world full of happiness and prosperity, where every sentient being can enjoy a life without unnecessary pain, and full of good experiences and achievements!

Why did you take the Giving What We Can pledge?

I want to maximise total expected well-being, i.e. contributing to increasing the number of people and animals that are happy, and making those who are happy even happier!

What are the issues in the world that you care most deeply about?

Positively shaping the development of artificial intelligence, and mitigating global catastrophic biorisks (e.g. something 100 times as bad as COVID-19).

Which organisations do you give to (and why)?

I give to EA Funds as they are aligned with maximising the impact of donations by having in mind: expected value, counterfactual impact, track record, marginal impact and room for more funding, direct and indirect effects, and information value.

No, but I find it difficult to choose the organisation to which to give, as there are many 

Do you try to effect change in any other way?

I work as a volunteer analyst at SoGive, have published articles in the online newspaper of my university, and plan to pursue a career aligned with maximising social impact. I also follow a plant-based diet to avoid causing harm to animals.

What effective giving tips would you like to share?

Remember that what matters is your total impact, not just the impact of your donations. As a result, it is important to have "personal runway" (how many months you can easily live if you stopped working) of 6 to 24 months (see 

Having said that, donating 10% of the net income is not necessarily optimal. If one donates 50 %, the impact of one's will be 5 times as large! This means it is worth considering whether you could donate more without sacrificing any impact on your career.

What suggestions do you have for other people considering the pledge?

If you earn $20,000 a year, you are roughly in the top 5% richest people in the world. By donating 10% to GiveWell top charities (or other effective organisations), you can save a life for every $4,000, i.e, you can save a life every 2 years. This is a great opportunity to contribute to a better world!

A world without pain and poverty, and full of happiness!

Have any books or documentaries or articles or studies significantly changed the way you see giving?

Part 3: Three ways anyone can make a difference, no matter their job

 helped me see giving in a different light. "One life saved per year would amount to 40 lives saved over a 40-year career. In a previous article, we estimated that a typical doctor in clinical medicine saves five lives over their career. So by donating 10% of your income, you could achieve eight times as much impact".

Have you found anything to be helpful in talking to people about effective giving?

Frame effective giving as an opportunity rather than an obligation.

Are there any other concrete ways that Giving What We Can has helped you?

GWWC community events have increased my motivation to contribute to a better world!

Conta-nos sobre ti mesmo, o que te mantém ocupado, o que te faz vibrar.

Gosto de contribuir para um mundo melhor, através do meu próprio trabalho, ou ajudando outros a fazê-lo!

Fala-nos da tua jornada de doações eficazes.

Reparei que tinha boas notas, e estava a seguir uma trajetória de vida algo previsível de um bom cidadão, mas não estava convencido do meu impacto real na formação de um mundo melhor. Ao encontrar altruísmo eficaz, uma filosofia e movimento social focado em maximizar o bem que podemos fazer com as nossas carreiras, dinheiro e decisões de vida, entendi que realmente tinha uma grande oportunidade de fazer a diferença. Um exemplo é através de doações eficazes. Posso salvar uma vida com alguns milhares de euros!

Porque é que doas? (O que te motivou a doar originalmente. O que te mantém motivado agora.)

Doo porque quero ver um mundo cheio de felicidade e prosperidade, onde cada ser consciente pode desfrutar de uma vida sem dor desnecessária, e cheia de boas experiências e realizações!

Porque é que assumiste o compromisso de “Giving What We Can”?

Quero maximizar o bem-estar total esperado, ou seja, contribuir para aumentar o número de pessoas e animais que são felizes, e fazer mais felizes os que são felizes!

Quais são os problemas no mundo com que mais te preocupas?

Moldar positivamente o desenvolvimento da inteligência artificial, e mitigar bioriscos catastróficos globais (por exemplo, algo 100 vezes pior que a COVID-19).

Doo aos EA Funds, uma vez que estão alinhados com maximizar o impacto das minhas doações tendo em conta: valor esperado, impacto contrafactual, histórico, impacto marginal e espaço para mais financiamento, efeitos diretos e indiretos, e valor da informação.

Não, mas acho difícil escolher a organização à qual doar, uma vez que 

Tentas efetivar mudança de alguma outra forma?

Trabalho como analista voluntário na SoGive, publiquei artigos no jornal online da minha universidade, e planeio seguir uma carreira alinhada com maximizar impacto social. Também sigo uma alimentação à base de plantas para evitar causar danos a animais.

Que dicas eficazes gostaria de partilhar?

Lembra-te que o que importa é o teu impacto total, não apenas o impacto das tuas doações. Como resultado, é importante ter "folga financeira" (quantos meses podes viver facilmente se deixasses de trabalhar) de 6 a 24 meses (ver 

Dito isto, doar 10% do rendimento líquido não é necessariamente o ideal. Se se doar 50 %, o impacto será 5 vezes maior! Isto significa que vale a pena considerar se podes doar mais sem sacrificar qualquer impacto na tua carreira.

Que sugestões tens para outras pessoas a considerar assumir o compromisso?

Se ganhares 20.000 € por ano, estás no 

 5% das pessoas mais ricas do mundo. Ao doar 10% às organizações de caridade de topo da GiveWell (ou outras organizações eficazes), podes salvar uma vida por cada 4.000 €, ou seja, podes salvar uma vida a cada 2 anos. Esta é uma grande oportunidade para contribuir para um mundo melhor!

Quais são as tuas visões para o futuro?

Um mundo sem dor e pobreza, e cheio de felicidade!

Algum livro ou documentários ou artigos ou estudos mudou significativamente a forma como vê dar?

 ajudou-me a ver doar a uma luz diferente. "Uma vida salva por ano equivaleria a 40 vidas salvas ao longo de 40 anos de carreira. Num artigo anterior, estimamos que um médico típico em medicina clínica salva cinco vidas ao longo da sua carreira. Assim, ao doar 10% do teu rendimento, podes conseguir oito vezes mais impacto".

Encontraste algo que ajudasse a falar com as pessoas sobre doações eficazes?

Enquadrar doações eficazes como uma oportunidade em vez de uma obrigação.

Há alguma outra forma concreta que a Giving What We Can te tenha ajudado?

Os eventos comunitários da GWWC aumentaram a minha motivação para contribuir para um mundo melhor!

Grace Adams

Hello and welcome to our May Newsletter!

This month we're experimenting with a video summary of our newsletter. Watch it and tell us whether you think we should continue with this format...

May 2022 Newsletter

This month we're experimenting with a video summary of our newsletter. Watch it and tell us whether you think we should continue with this format in the future via 

-Luke Freeman & the rest of the Giving What We Can team.

Hi and welcome to our May newsletter and updates!

This month we're trying out a new video and audio introduction to our newsletter, where we give you the highlights and most important news! You'll find links to everything we talk about below.
Let us know what you think - and whether we should continue this for the coming months.

At Giving What We Can we have some exciting news - we have formally taken over the EA funds donation platform while EA Funds will continue to do the grantmaking activities. So if you are looking to make donations to effective charities in the US, UK or Netherlands you can now visit 

We have just released a new YouTube video on Global Health and Development. We recommend you check it out if you're interested in this area and share it with your friends who might benefit from hearing about effective giving in global health and development.

The Giving What We Can staff will be joining our monthly meet ups this month and we'd love to say hi and get to know you if you're available!

 on why they didn't launch to support Ukrainians affected by the war. They saw the opportunity as impactful but ultimately didn't have the capacity to launch the program without deprioritising others. Instead, they chose to continue work on launching a program in Yemen, which the UN has called "the world's worst humanitarian crisis" and where over 22 million people need emergency aid.

Charity Entrepreneurship has launched career coaching for impact oriented entrepreneurs, so if you're interested in working in or starting an effective organisation, this could be a great opportunity for you!

A new article from Vox's Future Perfect column explains that a fridge in the US consumes more energy in a year than an individual in many countries in order to demonstrate global energy inequity.

And finally, Will MacAskill, co-founder of Giving What We Can was recently on the 80,000 Hours podcast where he discussed balancing frugality with ambition, whether you need longtermism, and mental health under pressure with host Rob Wiblin.

That's all for now - there are many more articles linked in the newsletter and don't forget to let us know what you think of this format!

Members Seren Kell, Rishub Jain and Arvind Raghavan were featured in this article from Positive News about effective giving and effective altruism!

Come meet the Giving What We Can staff as well as other community members in our meet up this month! This is a great opportunity to ask the staff to show you their pets, about working at Giving What We Can or anything else on your mind.

 (New York: Sat 6:00 pm, Sydney: Sun 8:00 am)

 (London: Sun 10:30 am, Mumbai: Sun 3:00 pm, Singapore: Sun 5:30 pm)

Our open forum is an event where you can come along with questions about effective giving or just come along to meet others interested in effective giving. Alternates between different timezones each month.

 (Sydney 9:00 am, New York 7:00 pm, San Francisco 4:00 pm)

Giving What We Can has formally taken over the EA Funds donation platform, so if you are looking to make donations to effective charities in the US, UK or Netherlands you can now visit 

We are currently seeking expressions of interest for a 

Will MacAskill on balancing frugality with ambition, whether you need longtermism, and mental health under pressure

 - Will MacAskill and Rob Wiblin, 80,000 Hours Podcast

Most students who would agree with EA ideas haven't heard of EA yet (results of a large-scale survey)

 - Lucius Caviola, Erin Morrissey, Joshua Lewis, EA Forum

Effective altruism and the current funding situation

Announcing: CE Career Coaching for Impact-focused Entrepreneurs

 - Karolina Sarek, Charity Entrepreneurship

GiveWell has published the following pages on grants it made or recommended:

 to Nutrition International to support vitamin A supplementation (VAS) campaigns in Chad.

Two grants to Against Malaria Foundation (AMF): 

 to support long-lasting insecticide-treated net (LLIN) distribution in three countries, and 

 for LLIN distribution in three Nigerian states primarily supported by President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) funding.

 to maintain or expand seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) programs in four countries, and 

 to implement SMC in Nampula province, Mozambique.

 to Fortify Health, which supplies mills in three Indian states with equipment and materials to fortify wheat flour with iron, folic acid, and vitamin B12.

GiveWell published short notes on why it decided to deprioritize 

unconditional cash transfers during pregnancy

corticosteroids to improve birth outcomes in at-risk pregnant women

targeted azithromycin distribution to children discharged from hospitals

GiveWell is also still looking for candidates for its open

From marshes to meat: Reflections from a career in conservation

Studies show that chickens are smarter than you think

New study on whether animal welfare reforms affect wider attitudes towards animals

The horrific bird flu that has wiped out 36 million chickens and turkeys, explained

The problem of global energy inequity, explained by American refrigerators

Have we been thinking about economic growth all wrong?

800,000th donation received, US$460,000,000 raised and 400 million people able to be protected - Thank you for your support!

James Tibenderana on the state of the art in malaria control and elimination

Laying foundations of good health in school classrooms across India

Many think climate change is the world's top problem because it threatens humanity's survival. Is this right?

My thoughts on nanotechnology strategy research as an EA cause area

Messy personal stuff that affected my cause prioritization (or: how I started to care about AI safety)

How to give future humans a voice in government

EU pioneers carbon removals certification: Key recommendations and principles

You can now support Giving What We Can's operations using our donation platform

This funding helps us to inspire donations to high impact charities

 with Giving What We Can and effective altruism.

Blog

Member Profile: Vasco Grilo

May 2022 Newsletter

Member Profile: Sonia Albrecht

EA Funds donation platform is moving to Giving What We Can

Can one person really make a difference?

April 2022 Newsletter

Is the world getting worse or better?

Why philanthropy isn’t just for billionaires

Member Profile: Martin Skadal

March 2022 Newsletter