Summaries of Earning to Give

March 11th, 2013
ea, earning_to_give
There are roughly four ideas that make up the "earning to give" approach to effective altruism:
  1. donate
  2. to the most effective organizations
  3. earn more so you can give more
  4. spend less so you can give more
Very few people will take these all to the limit, earning as much as they can while minimizing their self-spending so they can give as much as possible to the most effective charities. (I don't; I could push (3) and (4) harder than I do.) I don't even want to give people the impression that anyone expects this of them, because then you get "if I can't be perfect I won't even try." So: I'm looking for ways of summarizing this idea in a way that preferentially communicates the most important parts and doesn't turn off people who are only willing to go part way. I'm not that happy with either of the ones I have so far:
"Give money to the most effective charities, and maximize your impact by earning more and spending less."

"The best thing you can do to improve the world is make a lot of money and give it to great charities."

Suggestions of better ones?

Comment via: google plus, facebook, substack

Recent posts on blogs I like:

The joys of cash benchmarking

when to just give people money

via Thing of Things February 27, 2026

2025-26 New Year review

This is an annual post reviewing the last year and setting intentions for next year. I look over different life areas (work, health, parenting, effectiveness, etc) and analyze my life tracking data. Highlights include a minimal group house, the usefulness…

via Victoria Krakovna January 19, 2026

Why I Don't Think My Braces Were Worth It

A couple weeks ago, I got my braces off. I kind of wish I had never had them, though. When I was younger, two of my teeth were sticking out, and they looked kind of funny. I thought that my teeth were just fine, and I didn't want to get braces. But s…

via Anna Wise's Blog Posts January 3, 2026

more     (via openring)