To borrow an overused word from Silicon Valley, Effective Altruism threatens to disrupt conventional philanthropy. Effective altruists, who aim to do the most good they can with their time and money, rely on reason and evidence to decide where to donate. If enough people join their movement–and yes, it is a movement–more charity dollars will flow …
The idea of “effective altruism” — giving from the head, not the heart, to do as much good as possible — is gathering attention these days. It’s the topic of The Most Good You Can Do, a new book from Peter Singer, a philosopher at Princeton. Practically speaking, effective altruism would seem to favor nonprofit …
GiveWell began with a simple question: where should I donate? Elie Hassenfeld and Holden Karnofsky (bios) were 20-something friends who worked at a Westport, CT, hedge fund called Bridgewater Associates. They made good money. They wanted to give some away. That was easy. They wanted their donations to help people–by reducing suffering or increasing opportunity–“as much as …
Nonprofit Chronicles 