Our history
Giving What We Can is the brainchild of Toby Ord, a philosopher at Balliol College, Oxford. Inspired by the ideas of ethicists such as Peter Singer, Toby decided in 2009 to commit a large proportion of his income to effective charities.
Our origins
Discovering that many of his friends and colleagues were interested in making a similar pledge, Toby Ord worked with fellow Oxford philosopher Will MacAskill to create an international organisation of people who would donate a significant proportion of their incomes to cost-effective charities.
Together with his wife Bernadette Young, Ord and co-founder MacAskill launched Giving What We Can in November 2009, attracting significant media attention. Within a year, 64 people had joined the society, their pledged donations amounting to $21 million. Initially run on a volunteer basis, Giving What We Can took on full-time staff in the summer of 2012.
In this video our co-founders Toby Ord and Will MacAskill talk about the history of Giving What We Can and the effective altruism movement:
A growing movement
We now have 10 008 members, who have donated more than $257 269 057 to charity.
A note of thanks to our early supporters
Giving What We Can is extremely grateful for the support provided by the following organisations over the years:
- The Future of Humanity Institute --- The leading research center looking at big-picture questions for human civilisation.
- Balliol College, Oxford --- One of the oldest Oxford colleges, with a strong philosophical tradition.
- The Oxford Uehiro Centre --- An institute that encourages and supports debate and deeper reflection on practical ethics.