Your most important donation decision (surprise!)

Hi there,

In a world with so many problems and so many charities —

How do we decide where our money will make the biggest impact?

Most people assume it's mostly about picking the right charity. And they're partially right — as we've discussed previously, charities vary significantly in their impact.

But arguably, there's one other choice you'll be making that's even more important: the charitable cause(s) you'll focus on.

A charitable cause is a specific problem or area that you choose to support — in other words, which problem will you help solve through your donations?

Why could choosing a cause be even more important than choosing a charity?

Because one of the key determining factors for whether a charity will be particularly effective is whether it’s doing work on a high-impact problem.

High-impact problems tend to be:

Large in scale/important (all else equal, it's better to work on a problem that affects a lot of people, and affects them in a significant way)
Tractable (all else equal, it's better to work on a problem where there's some chance of making progress)
Neglected (all else equal, it's better to work on a problem that isn't already swimming in extra resources)

For example, through philanthropy, you could support an art gallery that you really enjoy in your neighbourhood. This is probably pretty tractable — the gallery could use your donations to increase their collection — but it won't affect a large number of people in a very significant way and it's likely the gallery would be able to find other donors to fund their new collection even if you didn't donate.

Many people choose to donate to local institutions like galleries, libraries or schools, because they have a personal connection to them. And while these can be useful ways to make a difference, effective giving takes a slightly different approach. It recommends that instead of looking around you for ways to help out, you instead ask a question like: which people or communities can I help the most?

Thinking in this way can open you to all sorts of impactful insights about charitable causes you could pursue. We’ve made a short video to guide you.

Care about all the things? Here's how to choose a cause to support

We also recommend checking out our page on some particularly high-impact causes.

See High-Impact Causes

What if I want to donate to a different cause?

Sometimes I hear from people that they resonate with the ideas behind effective giving but feel more moved to donate to a cause or charity they have a personal tie with — even though they understand that their dollar might not go as far.

If that’s you, consider setting aside some of your donations for these causes while committing the other portion to super-effective ones. You can check out the Giving Multiplier tool to strike your preferred balance – and get part of your donation matched in the process!

I'll speak to you next week!

All my Best,

James Rayton

Head of Community

All my Best,

James Rayton

Head of Community

P.S. You can give us feedback on these emails here.

Where can I find a list of the best charities?

Even among high-impact causes, charities still vary in their impact. Our research team recommends the best opportunities for donors looking to maximise the impact of their next dollar.

See the list