Share our ideas: Help inspire others

Help us spread the word about giving more and giving more effectively — become an advocate for effective giving!

It turns out that by far the most common way people first hear about effective giving and Giving What We Can is through someone they trust.

By simply talking with friends and family about effective giving, you can massively increase your impact.

The more donors prioritise effective charities, the more quickly we can collectively make a dent in the world's problems, improving the lives of many more people.

But talking about where to give (or why to give) can feel strange, or even scary. This is because it's not (yet) commonplace in our society for people to talk publicly about charitable giving.

We think this is a taboo worth fighting against. In fact, overcoming it is part of the reasoning behind our public giving pledge.

The reality is that people take their cues from others. Giving silently enforces misconceptions and misses an opportunity to share resources and knowledge that others may not have. In fact, according to a 2015 TIME article, research suggests that 72% of people give less than average, but 75% of people think they give more than average.

And as our executive director Luke Freeman writes in his article about how social change happens,

“The reality is we're all active agents in the world. We can all nudge the world towards the world that we want, or sit back and be nudged.”

So if you’re passionate about the power of effective giving in helping alleviate preventable suffering and secure a sustainable, resilient future — and you wish more donors prioritised impact when deciding where to donate — we hope you’ll feel comfortable sharing these ideas with others. Or maybe you’ll still feel a little uncomfortable (after all, social norms are hard to change) but you’ll think the benefits are worth it.

Remember that if people were really as resistant to hearing about charity as we may believe, “word of mouth” probably wouldn’t be the number one way people hear about Giving What We Can. (And it is!)

Tips for talking about effective giving

To help you get started, we've collected some resources for how to talk about effective giving:

• How to talk about effective giving and effective altruism — an in-depth guide to respectful, engaging conversations.
• Members' experiences — members share some stories and tips from their experiences talking about effective giving with others.
• Common concerns about charity — an exploration of some common reservations and misconceptions about charity and donations.

Other ways to raise awareness about giving effectively

Link to us

• On social (see some ideas/samples).
• On your personal website or blog.
• In your email signature.

Use our shareable images

• Use our customisable advocacy images to share the pledge on social media. We have images for your feed and banners for your LinkedIn and Twitter (X) profiles.
• Add one of our digital badges to your website, business card, LinkedIn, or CV. You can download them here or use this html code to embed a badge on a webpage.

Share your personal experience

• Share your effective giving story on our blog or externally (your own blog, a local newspaper, student magazine, professional journal, company newsletter, etc).
• Reference your pledge on your LinkedIn, CV, or other profile. You can use our customisable advocacy images or choose a different way of referencing your pledge.

Display your pledge certificate/pledge pin in your home and/or office

• Frame your physical pledge certificate and put it on your wall, desk, or shelf.
• Hang your pledge pin with the accompanying explanation on your fridge, or prop it up on a bookshelf, desk, mantle, etc.

This is a great (and subtle) way of inviting questions/sparking conversation!

Share effective giving content

• Follow us on social media and share our posts: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
• Share our recommended videos, books, podcasts, and essays.

Host/share events and fundraisers

• Fundraise for effective charities (raise awareness by mentioning Giving What We Can, effective giving, or effective altruism).
  • Run a birthday fundraiser!
• Run an event or give a talk about effective giving (e.g., at work or school, religious or community group, book or social club).
• Invite people to our events.

Get creative with gifts

• Give donations to friends and family as gifts or ask for them as gifts. Choose effective charities and mention why that matters.

Wear it to share it

• Check out our collection of Giving What We Can swag, including branded t-shirts, tote bags, hoodies, hats, and more!
• Wear your pledge pin (or pin it to a personal item!)

Please contact us if you would like to discuss other ways to get involved or would like any further resources.