Lesson 3: Giving, advocacy, and being a multiplier

Your giving

Even modest donations to effective charities can do a great deal of good. If you’re earning an average income in the Netherlands, you’re in the richest few percent of people globally — and the richest few percent in history. This isn’t meant to induce guilt. It’s a factual observation about the extraordinary opportunity you have: because of the vast inequality in global income, your money goes much further when directed to the most cost-effective interventions than when spent on additional consumption.

You met the bones of this argument in the earlier weeks — Peter Singer’s case in The Life You Can Save: if you can prevent something very bad at little cost to yourself, you should, and an average Dutch income makes that cost small. Week 2’s work on comparing impact showed just how far a well-directed euro can travel. If you want to see where you actually sit globally, the How Rich Am I calculator will show you (givingwhatwecan.org/how-rich-am-i) — most people on a Dutch salary are startled.

Read: Your money can do a surprising amount of good — Giving What We Can (10 mins).

The core insight is about marginal impact. The hundredth euro you spend on yourself each month buys you very little additional wellbeing compared to the ninety-ninth. The same euro, directed to a highly effective charity, can buy dramatically more wellbeing for someone living in extreme poverty. This is just the maths of diminishing marginal returns applied to global inequality.

Two organisations can help you give effectively:

Doneer Effectief: a Dutch organisation that helps you find and donate to highly effective charities, with recommendations across cause areas and Dutch-language support. If you’re a Dutch speaker, we recommend using their services.

Giving What We Can: an international community of people committed to effective giving, with charity recommendations and a public pledge. If you’re not a Dutch speaker, we recommend Giving What We Can. Both are tax-deductible for Dutch taxpayers.

Key questions to answer for yourself: How much will you give (a percentage of income, or a fixed amount)? Where will you direct it (which cause areas, which organisations)? And how will you decide — follow recommendations from Doneer Effectief or Giving What We Can, do your own research, or a mix?

Some people find it helpful to make a public commitment. Giving What We Can offers a Pledge (10% of income) or a Trial Pledge (1%+ for a set period). Others prefer to keep their giving private. Either is fine — what matters is that you have a specific plan, not that you announce it. And remember: starting at 1% and building from there is a perfectly good approach. The most important step is the first one.