Some donations accomplish nothing -- this Thanksgiving, make it count

(CC0) (Copyright by WSLS - All rights reserved)

Deniz Kofteci, Media General – (MEDIA GENERAL) -- How can you make the world a better place? Effective altruism encourages people to think deeply about how to prioritize their time to make the most difference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtWINl3C_7s

Recommended Videos



Doing something and starting somewhere is a lot better than just thinking and ending up not doing anything. Here are some amazing groups associated with the cause:

  • The Life You Can Save -- Find charities that assist the world's poorest people through evidence-backed interventions.
  • Give Well -- Dedicated to helping donors decide where to give.
  • Charity Science --  Using science to advocate for the most evidence-based and cost-effective charities.
  • GapMinder --  Their mission is to "fight devastating ignorance with fact-based worldviews everyone can understand."
  • Animal Charity Evaluators  --  The most effective ways to help animals.
  • 80,000 Hours -- Provides career advice for people who want to make a social impact through their work.

"If it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, then we ought, morally, to do it."

-Peter Singer, Fame, Affluence and Morality

You don't just have to donate money. There are other small boosts you can make to increase your charitable contributions at no cost to you.

Sign up for Amazon Smile -- Sign up and choose a charity of your choice, and they'll get 0.5 percent of all your future Amazon purchases. You just have to remember to go to smile.amazon.com when you shop.

Be an Advocate -- If you don't have the money to donate yourself, don't feel bad! You can still make a huge impact by encouraging others to donate. Spreading awareness and inspiring others is just as important! The easiest way to advocate for top charities is to simply talk to people.

Giving Games -- Ben Kuhn and Harvard Effective Altruism found that Giving Games are one of the best ways to engage people with effective altruism. The Life You Can Save runs many Giving Games and has compiled a lot of resources on them.