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Donate Unrestricted

paulgraham.com

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Re: Donate Unrestricted

#31

Post by sneak »

This highlights an issue that the article doesn't touch: how to choose trustworthy donation targets?

It implies you should not to trust places with your money if you don't trust them to allocate it, which is correct, but how to know who to trust?

I generally stick near-exclusively to GiveWell as a result.

https://www.givewell.org/

Each year they use a small fixed percentage of donations to research the most human benefit per dollar spent, and then use the remainder on that one single thing, maximizing the positive impact per dollar. The only thing the donor needs to know is that they have it handled. Any money you give them will go 100% to the thing they have determined is maximum impact that year. (One year recently it was mosquito netting, to prevent malaria, if I recall correctly.)

This might sound like an ad but I'm not affiliated in any way, just a happy donor who is glad they exist.

Re: Donate Unrestricted

#32

Post by JoeAltmaier »

temp8964 wrote: post #28

The article mentioned the Gates foundation which has terrible records in education initiatives: - The big failure in small schools initiative: https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2010/09/th... - The big failure in teacher evaluation initiative: https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-melinda-gates-foundatio... - The big failure in Common Core initiative: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/…

Interestingly, its still their money, and still their choice where to use it.

Re: Donate Unrestricted

#33

Post by temp8964 »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #32
temp8964 wrote: post #28

The article mentioned the Gates foundation which has terrible records in education initiatives: - The big failure in small schools initiative: https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2010/09/th... - The big failure in teacher evaluation initiative: https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-melinda-gates-foundatio... - The big failure in Common Core initiative: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/…

Interestingly, its still their money, and still their choice where to use it.

Yes. Even when they are probably doing more harm than good.

Re: Donate Unrestricted

#34

Post by no_wizard »

And yet a constant theme I keep hearing on HN and other places is that “I would only donate if I could support X initiative at Y foundation”

Mozilla comes to mind here. People often claiming they would donate if they could support only specific parts of the organization.

This article shows there is much more nuance to think about here than just supporting a specific part of an organization

Re: Donate Unrestricted

#35

Post by soneca »

Oh, it’s good to be back enjoying a PG essay! :) Even if it is just a short message rather than a grandiose statement (maybe that’s the reason I like it).

I worked with nonprofits (and philanthropy advice in particular) for a long time and this is a great message to send. I don’t think it will change things much, as I don’t think PG has as much influence in the nonprofit world as he has in the startups world, but worth the shot.

Re: Donate Unrestricted

#36

Post by bradleyjg »

bmmayer1 wrote: post #4

I've done a fair amount of volunteering for nonprofits, one in particular[1], and I will say that nonprofits are full of the most overworked, underpaid, and passionate people you will meet anywhere. They need every penny they can get, and very often people mistake nonprofits spending money on essential activities like marketing or event planning as "overhead", when such expenditures generate multiples of revenue for…

> Wouldn't you rather the $1 you donate generate leverage in new donations?

It depends on where the money is coming from. Suppose I donate $100 to a cystic fibrosis charity and using that money they convince 10 people to donate money to their charity instead of the muscular dystrophy foundation. I wouldn’t consider that an effective use of my donation. On the other hand I have no idea how you’d measure that.

Re: Donate Unrestricted

#39

Post by autarch »

no_wizard wrote: post #34

And yet a constant theme I keep hearing on HN and other places is that “I would only donate if I could support X initiative at Y foundation” Mozilla comes to mind here. People often claiming they would donate if they could support only specific parts of the organization. This article shows there is much more nuance to think about here than just supporting a specific part of an organization

> People often claiming they would donate if they could support only specific parts of the organization.

I think this may simply reflect lack of faith in Mozilla as a nonprofit. People don't trust them to use an unrestricted donation in a way that they think is good.

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