Donating

If you care about improving the world, it's natural to ask, "where will my donations make the most difference?" The good news is that your donations can have a huge impact. To maximize its impact, you need to donate carefully and wisely. This is particularly important as the best charities are often 10 times more effective than average charities in the same field and hundreds of times better than poorly performing charities. Some charities can even make a loss. This means that donating €100 to a top charity can do even more good than someone donating €1,000 to a typical charity or €10,000 to a poorly performing organisation.

How to donate wisely?

Charity is about helping others. Donating wisely means thinking through how each given euro would help the most.

To achieve this, we have put together guidelines to keep in mind when making donations.

1. Find a problem area to support

The most pressing problem areas are generally:

2. Choose a foundation or charity that works in this area

Indicators of effective organizations are:

In general, we recommend donating to expert-led funds rather than specific charities, as they can direct donations to where and when it's most needed.

3. Choose effective ways to donate

In practice, choosing a problem area and evaluating funds and charities can take a lot of time and effort, and many donors can't fit it into their schedules. To help you get started, we've compiled a list of reliable and cost-effective foundations and charities that address the most pressing issue areas.

It is possible to donate to effective charities with income tax relief on the Anneta Targalt platform.

Pledge to give

In order to commit yourself to charity, it is worth considering making a pledge. Thousands of people have publicly pledged to give at least 10% of their income to the most influential charities until retirement.

If donating 10% is not affordable for you, it is also possible to choose a suitable percentage for a fixed period and donate it to the most effective charities in your opinion. If you are a student, you can formalize a pledge to donate 1% of your monthly income to the most effective charities.

Making a pledge to give helps you commit more seriously to giving. This is expected to increase the likelihood that we will donate consistently, do so in a planned, meaningful way, and donate more. It also creates an opportunity to connect with other donors and support each other. The impact of the community on the wider society should not be underestimated - it can also inspire other people to donate more effectively and more.

Donating to Estonian organizations

Effective donation has not been studied very thoroughly in Estonia. However, there are several non-governmental organizations in Estonia that operate in influential and important fields.

For example, Nähtamatud Loomad deals with the protection of farm animals, Mondo deals with humanitarian aid and development cooperation, and our organization, Effective Altruism Estonia deals with the promotion of effective altruism.

If you want to donate to an organization, but you can't find enough information about them on the Internet, send a letter to the organization and ask what you want to know. You can ask, for example, what the exact activities of the organization are and what they would do with additional funding.

We recommend creating a regular donation habit. For example, direct your donations through Anneta Targalt to an effective fund or a specific effective organization, even if the donation is only 10 euros per month. Also consider joining a giving pledge.

Donating is not the only way to do good. Read about career opportunities on our career page.

Read about the activities of our group and sign up for a chat if you would like to receive donation advice from one of our volunteers.