I try to follow the principles of effective altruism: an ethical system focused on improving the world using scientific evidence and careful reasoning. I donate roughly 10% of any money I earn.
I’ve made my donations public, as a way of showing what “giving 10%” can look like. I’m not the most analytical donor you’ll find, and I don’t claim to have found the perfect charity, but I think that what I’ve given has helped others a lot more than it would have helped me.
Why Do I Give?
I’ve lived a very fortunate life. I was born into a well-off American family, the son of two parents with college degrees. I attended a famous university. I didn’t deserve any of this; if I’d been born somewhere else, my life would have gone very differently. I give because I want to share the results of my luck with the less fortunate.
I also give because I think that human happiness is the best thing in the world (in all its forms: love, excitement, satisfaction…). I already have a good, satisfying life, so I don’t need to buy more happiness. Instead, I can use money to help many other people live happier lives. This strikes me as a fantastic opportunity.
If you’d like to know more about my giving, or if you’re interested in effective altruism, let’s talk!
Donations
| Date | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $13029 | ~8% of pre-tax income. Not trying to bundle anymore, since my donations to political candidates are time-sensitive and not tax-deductible. |
| 2024 | $15500 | ~10% of pre-tax income. Technically gave in January 2025 for bundling purposes. I wrote more about this year's donations on my employer's website. |
| 2023 | $23992 | Over the last three years, I gave ~8% of my pre-tax income. There's no good excuse for the low figure — I didn't take the time to sit down and think through my giving carefully, and wound up putting most of my spare funds into savings or my DAF instead. I'll need to catch up in the coming years. |
| 2022 | $4900 | Still "bundling" donations, but made some time-sensitive political contributions in 2022 to candidates who hold reasonable views on critical issues (mostly pandemic preparedness). |
| 2021 | $3250 | Discussing income this year doesn't make sense, as I'm currently "bundling" my donations — donating every few years so that I can increase my tax benefits. (The charities I support do more good per dollar than my government.) This means that my 2021 donations were haphazard and opportunistic; I focused on random opportunities I stumbled across, without a greater plan in mind. |
| 2020 | $29025 | ~23% of pre-tax income. I placed highly in several high-value Magic: the Gathering tournaments this year, leading to an income spike. I pledged 50% of my winnings to GiveWell, which made up almost all of the year's donations. |
| 2019 | $8898 | ~12% of pre-tax income. $6998 was eligible for this year's Giving Tuesday Facebook donation match, of which $4499 was actually matched. (The last donation was made a few seconds too late, because the matching funds run out fast.) |
| 2018 | $4625 | ~11% of pre-tax income. I spent most of the year freelancing, but started a full-time job at the end of October. $4000 of this was matched by Facebook, making the year's total donation ~$8600 (minus the impact of whatever donations Facebook would have matched if I hadn't used some of their limited match funds). |
| 2017 | $3150 | ~8% of pre-tax income. I left my job in December 2016 to move and get married, so money was a bit more precarious this year. Spent the year freelancing and planning a wedding. |
| 2016 | $8100 | ~11% of pre-tax income. This was my first full year working a salaried job. |
| 2015 | $3150 | ~8% of pre-tax income. I started my first-ever full-time job in July. |
| 2014 | $1685 | ~9% of pre-tax income. This was my first year as a Giving What We Can member. I was a full-time student throughout the year. |
I also keep a spreadsheet with details on every donation I’ve ever made.
This page was inspired by Peter Wildeford.