Climate Change, Mosquitos, and Worms: Tips for Year-End Giving

Drake Baer wrote an interesting article on Business Insider on Giving Tuesday about effective altruism. He wrote about what motivates us to give and how that drive may not necessarily result in the greatest good. Stories from people close to us or appeals from groups to which we belong move us the most. However, Baer suggested, our donations can have a more significant impact by focusing our altruism abroad.

Stretch the Impact of Your Contribution

Access to healthcare in developing nations is virtually non-existent. With a modest amount of money, effective charities can invest in life-saving treatments, such as insecticide-treated mosquito nets or deworming medication.

Mosquitos result in hundreds of thousands of deaths every year in poorer countries, mostly children. An example of an effective charity is Malaria Consortium. They are working to eradicate malaria in undeveloped countries. Malaria Consortium provides a four-month dose of preventive medicine for less than $7 per child.

Abhijit Banerjee, Michael Kremer, and Esther Duflo won the Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences in 2019. They found that deworming children in Kenya resulted in a significant decrease in school absenteeism. Keeping kids in school means they have a future as a wage earner and can lift their family and the entire community out of poverty.

The Data Proves It

The updated 2019 anniversary edition publication of The Life You Can Save addresses the chief criticisms potential donors have about charities. It’s filled with current statistics on the effectiveness of charities. For example, in the 2009 publication, the most recent data indicated that 9.7 million children had died before reaching age five from preventable diseases. In 2019, 5.4 million children died from preventable diseases. The poverty rate is half what it was when Singer, the father of effective altruism, wrote his book. This year, we’re dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, which will reverse some of the gains made in poverty reduction. Nevertheless, we can see that by using logic, effective charities are saving lives.

Fighting Climate Change

I’ve focused on healthcare, poverty, and other human resource problems in the world in previous articles. However, using a logic-driven, results-oriented approach to giving is not limited to these spheres. We are each moved by the issues we care about the most. Your corporate social responsibility goals may address other challenges in the world.

Founders Pledge is a “broad” social movement inspired by effective altruism to address climate change. It assists philanthropists in identifying charities whose work is returning the greatest good on their investment. John Halstead, who heads up the applied research section, prepared a 152-page report specifically for philanthropists wanting to get involved in climate change. Coming out on top were the Clean Air Task Force and Coalition for Rainforest Nations. BURN, another charity to make the Founders Pledge list, uses donor money to provide fuel-efficient stoves in Kenya.

Final Thoughts

COVID-19 has awakened our consciousness. With so many aspects of our lives removed from our control, many people are feeling helpless. As corporate leaders, there’s much we can do to advance the betterment of the global community. Perhaps now, more than ever, we can empower ourselves by committing to effective altruism. It’s something to think about as we come to the end of 2020, with hopes for a better 2021.