The Definition of Effective Altruism
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Philanthropy: the Power of Giving UGS 303
Philanthropy: The Power of Giving UGS 303 Spring 2018 Professor: Pamela Paxton Class Meetings: Mondays and Wednesdays 12:00-1:00, Friday discussion sections Classroom: CLA 1.106 Office Hours: Wednesdays 1:00-2:00 or by appointment Office: CLA 3.738 Office Phone: (512) 232-6323 Email: [email protected] To give away money is an easy matter in any man’s power. But to decide to whom to give it, and how large and when, and for what purpose and how, is neither in every man’s power nor an easy matter. Hence it is that such excellence is rare, praiseworthy and noble. --Aristotle, Ethics, 360 BC Course Description: Who gives? Who volunteers? Does it matter? This course will cover the scope and diversity of the nonprofit sector, as well as individual patterns of giving and volunteering. Further, although billions of dollars are distributed by individuals and charitable foundations each year, only some charitable programs are effective. Thus, a portion of the course will focus on providing students with the tools and skills to evaluate charitable programs for effectiveness. Based on their own evaluations, students will have the opportunity to distribute significant funds (provided through The Philanthropy Lab and individual donors) to charitable organizations. Students will be placed into groups that will research, discuss, and debate charities, with the whole class determining the ultimate distribution of the funds. Course Materials: Peter Singer. 2009. The Life You Can Save. New York: Random House. Available at University Co- op. Other course readings available through Canvas. Course Requirements and Grading: Class Participation (10%) As in all college courses, students should come to class having read and thought about the assigned readings. -
Effective Altruism William Macaskill and Theron Pummer
1 Effective Altruism William MacAskill and Theron Pummer Climate change is on course to cause millions of deaths and cost the world economy trillions of dollars. Nearly a billion people live in extreme poverty, millions of them dying each year of easily preventable diseases. Just a small fraction of the thousands of nuclear weapons on hair‐trigger alert could easily bring about global catastrophe. New technologies like synthetic biology and artificial intelligence bring unprece dented risks. Meanwhile, year after year billions and billions of factory‐farmed ani mals live and die in misery. Given the number of severe problems facing the world today, and the resources required to solve them, we may feel at a loss as to where to even begin. The good news is that we can improve things with the right use of money, time, talent, and effort. These resources can bring about a great deal of improvement, or very little, depending on how they are allocated. The effective altruism movement consists of a growing global community of peo ple who use reason and evidence to assess how to do as much good as possible, and who take action on this basis. Launched in 2011, the movement now has thousands of members, as well as influence over billions of dollars. The movement has substan tially increased awareness of the fact that some altruistic activities are much more cost‐effective than others, in the sense that they do much more good than others per unit of resource expended. According to the nonprofit organization GiveWell, it costs around $3,500 to prevent someone from dying of malaria by distributing bed nets. -
Evidence-Based Policy Cause Area Report
Evidence-Based Policy Cause Area Report AUTHOR: 11/18 MARINELLA CAPRIATI, DPHIL 1 — Founders Pledge Animal Welfare Executive Summary By supporting increased use of evidence in the governments of low- and middle-income countries, donors can dramatically increase their impact on the lives of people living in poverty. This report explores how focusing on evidence-based policy provides an opportunity for leverage, and presents the most promising organisation we identified in this area. A high-risk/high-return opportunity for leverage In the 2013 report ‘The State of the Poor’, the World Bank reported that, as of 2010, roughly 83% of people in extreme poverty lived in countries classified as ‘lower-middle income’ or below. By far the most resources spent on tackling poverty come from local governments. American think tank the Brookings Institution found that, in 2011, $2.3 trillion of the $2.8 trillion spent on financing development came from domestic government revenues in the countries affected. There are often large differences in the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of social programs— the amount of good done per dollar spent can vary significantly across programs. Employing evidence allows us to identify the most cost-effective social programs. This is useful information for donors choosing which charity to support, but also for governments choosing which programs to implement, and how. This suggests that employing philanthropic funding to improve the effectiveness of policymaking in low- and middle-income countries is likely to constitute an exceptional opportunity for leverage: by supporting the production and use of evidence in low- and middle-income countries, donors can potentially enable policy makers to implement more effective policies, thereby reaching many more people than direct interventions. -
1% Initiative in the City of Zurich
Effective Altruism Foundation Using evidence to fight poverty The 1% initiative by the Effective Altruism Foundation The initiative Theory of change Effective T $90M per year C altruism Evidence-based A for effective P movement policy making M I charities How can we fight global poverty on a political level? A unique growth opportunity is offered by Switzerland's direct democracy, wherein anyone can ask for a legally binding vote on any topic – simply by Counterpropos Media reports collecting signatures on a popular initiative. al passes Initiative passes on the initiative and effective E altruism The Effective Altruism Foundation has just launched one such M O initiative in the city of Zurich, asking for 1% of the city's budget to be C T U donated to highly effective global health charities. The city's budget O Parliament Significant amounts to about USD 9 billion, which means the city would makes sociopolitical potentially donate USD 90 million per year to highly effective counterproposal support charities. Support from We believe the initiative presents an extraordinary funding T U Collect 3,000 charities, P Media relations opportunity for donors interested in meta-charities, due to its T signatures U politicians and fundraising and movement-building potential. O parties S E I T Propose Fundraising Position paper, I V I legislation > EUR 90’000 FAQ, etc $9 billion x 1% = $90 million per year $30 million T Zurich’s budget Annual funding for Adjustments Total expected C A effective charities value of initiative More likely Less likely Fundraising benefits The base rate for popular initiatives passing is about 11%. -
Global Animal Partnership Et Al. May 3, 2017 Page 1
Internal Revenue Service TE/GE Division Re: Global Animal Partnership et al. May 3, 2017 Page 1 May 3, 2017 Ms. Tamera L. Ripperda Director Exempt Organizations Internal Revenue Service 1111 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20224 Re: Global Animal Partnership EIN: 20-2234609 The Humane Society of the United States EIN: 53-0225390 Dear Ms. Ripperda: I am writing to alert the IRS to apparent use of charitable funds by a private operating foundation for the impermissible private benefit of one of its disqualified persons. Facts—Introduction Global Animal Partnership is a private operating foundation founded by, and with contributions from, Whole Foods Market. Global Animal Partnership’s sole substantial activity appears to be the operation of a program to certify that certain food products sold by Whole Foods Market. In addition, Whole Foods Market may be paying fees to Global Animal Partnership to provide services that benefit Whole Foods Market. Whole Foods Market Corporation (“Whole Foods”) is a Texas-based chain of premium supermarkets that promotes itself as “America’s Healthiest Grocery Store.” Whole Foods provides both traditional groceries and meat and poultry products, as well as prepared foods. In 2005, Whole Foods founded Global Animal Partnership (GAP), a tax-exempt organization whose principal activity is developing and promoting its “5-Step® Animal Welfare Rating Standards.” In turn, the Standards’ principal use appears to be to certify that meat products sold by Whole Foods Market satisfy the Standards. Whole Foods’ founder and long-time CEO, John Mackey, was a board member of GAP until 2014. John Mackey also serves on the board of the Humane Society of the United States, EIN: 53- 0225390, which is exempt from federal income tax under §501(c)(3) The Humane Society of the Internal Revenue Service TE/GE Division Re: Global Animal Partnership et al. -
MAC1 Abstracts – Oral Presentations
Oral Presentation Abstracts OP001 Rights, Interests and Moral Standing: a critical examination of dialogue between Regan and Frey. Rebekah Humphreys Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom This paper aims to assess R. G. Frey’s analysis of Leonard Nelson’s argument (that links interests to rights). Frey argues that claims that animals have rights or interests have not been established. Frey’s contentions that animals have not been shown to have rights nor interests will be discussed in turn, but the main focus will be on Frey’s claim that animals have not been shown to have interests. One way Frey analyses this latter claim is by considering H. J. McCloskey’s denial of the claim and Tom Regan’s criticism of this denial. While Frey’s position on animal interests does not depend on McCloskey’s views, he believes that a consideration of McCloskey’s views will reveal that Nelson’s argument (linking interests to rights) has not been established as sound. My discussion (of Frey’s scrutiny of Nelson’s argument) will centre only on the dialogue between Regan and Frey in respect of McCloskey’s argument. OP002 Can Special Relations Ground the Privileged Moral Status of Humans Over Animals? Robert Jones California State University, Chico, United States Much contemporary philosophical work regarding the moral considerability of nonhuman animals involves the search for some set of characteristics or properties that nonhuman animals possess sufficient for their robust membership in the sphere of things morally considerable. The most common strategy has been to identify some set of properties intrinsic to the animals themselves. -
The Role of the Philanthropic Sector in Addressing Homelessness: Australian and International Experiences
The Role of the Philanthropic Sector in Addressing Homelessness: Australian and International Experiences Literature Review National Homelessness Research Partnership Program Dr Selina Tually, Miss Victoria Skinner and Associate Professor Michele Slatter Centre for Housing, Urban and Regional Planning The University of Adelaide Contact: Dr Selina Tually Centre for Housing, Urban and Regional Planning The University of Adelaide Phone: (08) 8313 3289 Email: [email protected] September 2012 Project No. FP8 This project is supported by the Australian Government through the Flinders Partners National Homelessness Research Partnership funded as part of the National Homelessness Research Agenda of the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. 2 of 103 Acronyms ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics ACNC Australian Charity and Not-For-Profit Commission ACOSS Australian Council of Social Service ACTCOSS Australian Capital Territory Council of Social Service AIHW Australian Institute of Health and Welfare ASIC Australian Securities and Investment Commission ATO Australian Taxation Office DGR Deductible Gift Recipient FaHCSIA Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs FBT Fringe Benefit Tax GFC Global Financial Crisis GST Goods and Services Tax ITEF Income Tax Exempt Fund J2SI Journey to Social Inclusion NAHA National Affordable Housing Agreement NCOSS Council of Social Service of New South Wales NFG Neighborhood Funders Group (US) NFP Not For Profit NP Non-Profit NTCOSS -
Whether and Where to Give1 (Forthcoming in Philosophy and Public Affairs)
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by St Andrews Research Repository 1 Whether and Where to Give1 (Forthcoming in Philosophy and Public Affairs) Theron Pummer University of St Andrews 1. The Ethics of Giving and Effective Altruism The ethics of giving has traditionally focused on whether, and how much, to give to charities helping people in extreme poverty.2 In more recent years, the discussion has increasingly focused on where to give, spurred by an appreciation of the substantial differences in cost- effectiveness between charities. According to a commonly cited example, $40,000 can be used either to help 1 blind person by training a seeing-eye dog in the United States or to help 2,000 blind people by providing surgeries reversing the effects of trachoma in Africa.3 Effective altruists recommend that we give large sums to charity, but by far their more central message is that we give effectively, i.e., to whatever charities would do the most good per dollar donated.4 In this paper, I’ll assume that it’s not wrong not to give bigger, but will explore to what extent it may well nonetheless be wrong not to give better. The main claim I’ll argue for here is that in many cases it would be wrong of you to give a sum of money to charities that do less good than others you could have given to instead, even if 1 I am extremely grateful to Derek Parfit, Roger Crisp, Jeff McMahan, and Peter Singer for extremely helpful feedback and encouragement. -
By William Macaskill
Published on June 20, 2016 Brother, can you spare an RCT? ‘Doing Good Better’ by William MacAskill By Terence Wood If you’ve ever thought carefully about international development you will be tormented by shoulds. Should the Australian government really give aid rather Link: https://devpolicy.org/brother-can-spare-util-good-better-william-macaskill-20160620/ Page 1 of 5 Date downloaded: September 30, 2021 Published on June 20, 2016 than focus on domestic poverty? Should I donate more money personally? And if so, what sort of NGO should I give to? The good news is that William MacAskill is here to help. MacAskill is an associate professor in philosophy at the University of Oxford, and in Doing Good Better he wants to teach you to be an Effective Altruist. Effective Altruism is an attempt to take a form ofconsequentialism (a philosophical viewpoint in which an action is deemed right or wrong on the basis of its consequences) and plant it squarely amidst the decisions of our daily lives. MacAskill’s target audience isn’t limited to people involved in international development, but almost everything he says is relevant. Effective Altruists contend we should devote as much time and as many resources as we reasonably can to help those in greater need. They also want us to avoid actions that cause, or will cause, suffering. Taken together, this means promoting vegetarianism, (probably) taking action on climate change, and–of most interest to readers of this blog–giving a lot of aid. That’s the altruism. As for effectiveness, MacAskill argues that when we give we need to focus on addressing the most acute needs, while carefully choosing what works best. -
Against 'Effective Altruism'
Against ‘Effective Altruism’ Alice Crary Effective Altruism (EA) is a programme for rationalising for the most part adopt the attitude that they have no charitable giving, positioning individuals to do the ‘most serious critics and that sceptics ought to be content with good’ per expenditure of money or time. It was first for- their ongoing attempts to fine-tune their practice. mulated – by two Oxford philosophers just over a decade It is a posture belied by the existence of formidable ago–as an application of the moral theory consequential- critical resources both inside and outside the philosoph- ism, and from the outset one of its distinctions within ical tradition in which EA originates. In light of the undis- the philanthropic world was expansion of the class of puted impact of EA, and its success in attracting idealistic charity-recipients to include non-human animals. EA young people, it is important to forcefully make the case has been the target of a fair bit of grumbling, and even that it owes its success primarily not to the – question- some mockery, from activists and critics on the left, who able – value of its moral theory but to its compatibility associate consequentialism with depoliticising tenden- with political and economic institutions responsible for cies of welfarism. But EA has mostly gotten a pass, with some of the very harms it addresses. The sincere ded- many detractors concluding that, however misguided, its ication of many individual adherents notwithstanding, efforts to get bankers, tech entrepreneurs and the like to reflection on EA reveals a straightforward example of give away their money cost-effectively does no serious moral corruption. -
Cognitive Biases Nn Discussing Cognitive Biases with Colleagues and Pupils
The RSA: an enlightenment organisation committed to finding innovative practical solutions to today’s social challenges. Through its ideas, research and 27,000-strong Fellowship it seeks to understand and enhance human capability so we can close the gap between today’s reality and people’s hopes for a better world. EVERYONE STARTS WITH AN ‘A’ Applying behavioural insight to narrow the socioeconomic attainment gap in education NATHALIE SPENCER, JONATHAN ROWSON, LOUISE BAMFIELD MARCH 2014 8 John Adam Street London WC2N 6EZ +44 (0) 20 7930 5115 Registered as a charity in England and Wales IN COOPERATION WITH THE no. 212424 VODAFONE FOUNDATION GERMANY Copyright © RSA 2014 www.thersa.org www.thersa.org For use in conjunction with Everyone Starts with an “A” 3 ways to use behavioural insight in the classroom By Spencer, Rowson, www.theRSA.org Bamfield (2014), available www.vodafone-stiftung.de A guide for teachers and school leaders at: www.thersa.org/startswitha www.lehrerdialog.net n Praising pupils for effort instead of intelligence to help instil the Whether you and your pupils believe that academic idea that effort is key and intelligence is not a fixed trait. For ability is an innate trait (a ‘fixed mindset’) or can be example, try “great, you kept practicing” instead of “great, you’re strengthened through effort and practice like a muscle really clever”. (a ‘growth mindset’) affects learning, resilience to n Becoming the lead learner. Educators can shape mindset setbacks, and performance. Mindset through modelling it for the pupils. The way that you (and parents) give feedback to Think about ability like a muscle Try: n Giving a “not yet” grade instead of a “fail” to set the expectation pupils can reinforce or attenuate a given mindset. -
The Ethical Consistency of Animal Equality
1 The ethical consistency of animal equality Stijn Bruers, Sept 2013, DRAFT 2 Contents 0. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................ 5 0.1 SUMMARY: TOWARDS A COHERENT THEORY OF ANIMAL EQUALITY ........................................................................ 9 1. PART ONE: ETHICAL CONSISTENCY ......................................................................................................... 18 1.1 THE BASIC ELEMENTS ................................................................................................................................. 18 a) The input data: moral intuitions .......................................................................................................... 18 b) The method: rule universalism............................................................................................................. 20 1.2 THE GOAL: CONSISTENCY AND COHERENCE ..................................................................................................... 27 1.3 THE PROBLEM: MORAL ILLUSIONS ................................................................................................................ 30 a) Optical illusions .................................................................................................................................... 30 b) Moral illusions ....................................................................................................................................