10,000 pledgers and the impact of strategic giving

Hello, and welcome to our August newsletter!

Two weeks ago, you may have seen a special message from Sjir Hoeijmakers (our CEO) celebrating an incredible milestone:

10,000 people around the world have now taken Giving What We Can’s 🔸10% Pledge!

I’m so inspired when I think about what this number truly means. Every pledge is both an individual commitment to help solve some of the world’s biggest problems and part of a collective story of generosity. That generosity carries astonishing power.

As Sjir wrote in his announcement:

In 2024 alone, pledgers donated more than $50 million, enough to save over 10,000 lives. If we keep going at this pace, our pledgers could (collectively) prevent a death approximately every hour. That’s an extraordinary thing to be a part of.

From reducing animal suffering, to protecting families from deadly diseases, to tackling some of humanity’s biggest risks, pledgers are making a real and visible difference.

Thank you for being part of this community – whether by pledging, exploring our charity recommendations, sharing our resources, or simply following our work. Together, we’re growing the number of people who are committed to meaningful, strategic giving: the kind of giving that’s reshaping what’s possible.

Lots more great news below!

Motivations for Pledging

Here are some of our favourite responses from people who took a pledge last month:

News & Updates

GWWC

New blogs, announcements, & news from Giving What We Can

• As mentioned above, we reached 10,000 active 10% Pledgers!
• If you’ve been to our website recently, you may have noticed that things look a little different – check it out and let us know what you think!
• Our research team has started work on our annual evaluations of impact-focused charity evaluators, with reports and updated charity recommendations expected in time for giving season.
• We interviewed one of the bloggers behind Living More with Less – who also happens to be a 10% Pledger. Read about his family’s interesting take on giving and living in our new blog post: Give more, live…better?

Community

Highlights from our community & the wider effective giving ecosystem

• Bentham’s Bulldog🔸 explored some of the ethical reasons to take the 10% Pledge in his new post: Why I just took the Giving What We Can Pledge. We thought it was a compelling, provocative reflection and highly recommend giving it a read!
• Prof. Joshua Greene, co-founder of Giving Multiplier, was interviewed on Ologies with Alie Ward, a popular science podcast recently included in TIME’s “The 100 Best Podcasts of All Time”. In this “Trolleyology” episode, Josh talks about moral psychology, effective charitable giving, bridging political divides, and more. Listen to the episode.
• Pablo Melchor🔸, co-founder and president of Ayuda Efectiva, has written a Spanish-language book exploring the principles of effective giving and the 10% Pledge! You can read more about the book and preorder here.

Events

Fauna Connections: September 18th, online

Faunalytics is proud to present Fauna Connections, a free, virtual research symposium designed for animal advocates. This event brings together academics and scientists from the social and behavioral sciences and related fields to share original research with direct applications to animal advocacy. You can view the full schedule here and register to attend for free here.

EA Global: New York City, 2025: Oct 10th-12th, The Sheraton, Times Square

EA Global is coming to New York for the first time! The conference is a great place to meet experts working on some of the world’s most pressing issues across animal welfare, global health & development, AI safety, biosecurity, and more. There’s an event app to make 1-on-1 networking easy – plus talks, workshops, and targeted meetups. With both DC and Boston just a train ride away, this event is uniquely positioned to connect you with media, policy, and philanthropy folks. Learn more and apply here by September 28th.

Upcoming EAGx conferences: Berlin, Singapore, & Australasia!

EAGx conferences are great opportunities to learn from and connect with others interested in having a positive impact on the world.

• EAGx Berlin
• EAGx Singapore
• EAGx Australasia

Opportunities

Open roles

• GiveWell is hiring a Head of Finance and a Manager, People Operations. You can find these and other open roles on GiveWell's jobs page.
• We've just opened applications at Giving What We Can for a part-time Growth and Marketing Operations/Analytics expert to be the analytical engine behind our growth strategy. This person will build and maintain the systems, processes, and analytics infrastructure that enables our marketing and growth teams to scale efficiently while maintaining our high standards.
• Applications are still open at Giving What We Can for the Growth Marketer and Creative Content Marketer positions.

Other opportunities

• NTI | bio is now accepting applications for the 2025 Next Generation for Biosecurity Delegation to the December BWC Meeting of States Parties in Geneva, Switzerland. This opportunity brings together students and early-career professionals (ages 18 – 35) from around the world to: network with leading scientists, diplomats, and civil society changemakers; showcase your ideas on strengthening biosecurity; and join a dynamic community of rising leaders driving the future of biosecurity. Learn more and apply here by September 7, 2025.
• Does your passion for making a difference extend to your career? The Centre for Effective Altruism is running a free, 4-day online bootcamp to help accomplished professionals who are interested in making a high-impact career pivot. In the bootcamp, you’ll identify career paths that match your skills, apply to opportunities, and build a network to support you. Apply here by September 14th.
• Applications are open for the 2026 Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program, run by Ambitious Impact. If you are entrepreneurial, fast-moving, evidence-based, and care deeply about doing good in a cost-effective way, then consider signing up for Ambitious Impact’s online info and Q&A sessions to learn more about the program and the charity ideas for 2026! Applications to the 2026 Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation program close on September 21st.

Cause Area News

Highlights from the high-impact programmes we list on our platform along with evaluators & grantmakers in the effective giving space

Animal Welfare

• Good news from the Open Wing Alliance’s 2025 cage-free egg fulfillment report: 92% of cage-free commitments (with deadlines of 2024 or earlier) have been upheld! (The Open Wing Alliance – a global coalition to end the abuse of chickens – is a project of The Humane League.)
• Good Food Institute shared two exciting updates:
  • Nigel Sizer, renowned climate and nature expert and former President of the Rainforest Alliance, joins as GFI’s new CEO starting today, August 26th! With decades of leadership across science-based nonprofits, Nigel brings deep experience driving systemic solutions to global challenges. Read the full announcement.
  • The world’s first master’s degree in alternative proteins has launched in Spain! Developed with input from GFI Europe’s scientific team, this new program at Real Centro Universitario María Cristina will equip students with the skills needed to lead in sustainable food innovation – from science and business to policy. Read more here.
• Faunalytics’ new report, From Performative To Transformative: Navigating Equity & Inclusion Across A Diverse Animal Advocacy Movement, explores how farmed animal advocacy organizations can approach diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in ways that are aligned with their mission, strategy, and values. Drawing on interviews with BIPOC advocates and analysis of over 200 organizations, the report identifies key barriers and opportunities for making DEI efforts meaningful rather than symbolic. With practical recommendations for advocates, leaders, and funders, this resource is designed to help the animal advocacy movement grow stronger, more inclusive, and more effective.
• Wild Animal Initiative attended the NYU Wild Animal Welfare Program's two-day summit in July, which brought together researchers studying disease, welfare measurement, the welfare consequences of biological invasions, and human attitudes toward wild animals. At the summit, Executive Director Cameron Meyer Shorb and Strategy Director Mal Graham were panelists in a group discussion about research directions in wild animal welfare, and Strategy Researcher Simon Eckerström Liedholm also gave a lightning talk on how contraception could result in lower population densities, potentially increasing population welfare.

Global Health and Wellbeing

• GiveWell has released two new podcast episodes on various aspects of their work.
  • GiveWell has recommended over $1 billion to malaria programs, averting an estimated 200,000+ deaths - mostly in young children. Now, major anticipated funding reductions threaten to create substantial gaps in life-saving malaria programs. In a recent podcast episode, GiveWell CEO and co-founder Elie Hassenfeld and researchers Alex Bowles and Rosie Bettle discuss the potential impacts of these funding shortfalls. Learn more about the foreign aid funding cuts and how you can help.
  • Over the past year and a half, GiveWell has been investigating family planning services that help people decide whether and when to have children. In their latest podcast episode, GiveWell CEO and co-founder Elie Hassenfeld and Senior Research Associate Dilhan Perera discuss the complexities of evaluating family planning programs, diving into the types of programs GiveWell is considering and key questions they are working to answer. Read more on this work here.

You can subscribe to the podcast for the latest updates.

• New Incentives published a blog about the life-saving work a recent GiveWell grant will enable.
• GiveDirectly announced the results of a large randomized study in rural Kenya tracking 100,000 births: giving families a one-time $1,000 cash transfer cut infant mortality by 48%. Learn more about the results and see what GiveDirectly is doing in response.
• StrongMinds published a blog sharing stories of how adolescents in Uganda are experiencing the impact of talk therapy, and how this is beginning to reduce stigma in schools and families.

Global Catastrophic Risk Reduction

• NTI | bio shared two updates:
  • On its work to advance biotechnology governance frameworks: NTI | bio convened the 2025 Biosecurity Innovation Risk Reduction Initiative meeting in July, which brought together experts from across industry, the scientific community, international organizations, and national governments to discuss potential safeguards for rapidly advancing bioscience and biotechnology capabilities across three key areas: DNA synthesis screening, AIxBio capabilities, and mirror life risks.
  • On its work to enhance transparency for bioscience R&D: NTI | bio launched a new report with recommendations for enhancing transparency in bioscience research and development to strengthen the global norms against biological weapons. Report authors call for stronger international mechanisms to uphold the norm against bioweapons, including capabilities to better detect, attribute, and hold states accountable for bioweapons development or use.
• Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security’s Dr. Erin Sorrell appeared on an episode of the podcast Public Health on Call to discuss the CDC’s deactivation of the US’s H5N1 emergency response, why fewer bird flu cases doesn’t necessarily mean an end to the bird flu emergency, and how to prepare for migratory birds returning this fall.

Evaluators, Grantmakers, and Incubators

(News from evaluators, grantmakers, and incubators that relates to global health, animal welfare, or global catastrophic risk reduction is now included in the “Cause Area News” section above!)

• Founders Pledge published a retrospective on the climate implications of Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, arguing that “when it comes to long-term global decarbonization, all is not necessarily lost.” According to the retrospective, the bill leaves most of the important policy infrastructure in place, leaving potential for transformative energy technology breakthroughs. Founders Pledge’s work was also featured in The Telegraph and The Anti-Catastrophe League, along with ntv’s KlimaLabor podcast (in German).
  

Featured Social Post

We loved seeing so much engagement and celebration from our community around the 10,000 pledgers milestone — join the conversation on LinkedIn! And if you’re a pledger, you can help keep the momentum going: repost the milestone video and/or use our celebration templates to share the news on social!

Tag us on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok and stay connected with us for more news and updates.

Featured Resource

You already donate a portion of your income regularly and have no intention of stopping. Should you still take a giving pledge?

Read "Why pledge when you already donate"?

Do you have any feedback on our newsletter or communications? Share your thoughts here.

Useful Links

• Review our giving recommendations.
• Report your donations with your pledge dashboard.
• Share our ideas to help grow our community and multiply your impact.
• Join other members in the Giving What We Can Community Slack.
• Find more ways to get involved with Giving What We Can and effective giving.

Do you have questions about the pledge, Giving What We Can, or effective giving in general? Check out our FAQ page, or contact us directly.