#GivingTuesday: My Giving Story and Some of My Favorite Charities

Happy Giving Tuesday! 

A friend inspired me to share my giving story and some of my favorite charities.

I was raised to love all and to give generously with my time, money, and spirit, aspirations I strive to live up to.

When I first read The Life You Can Save in 2009, I realized that I could and should be doing more to help others wherever they are. It wasn't until 2011 when I came across GiveWell and Giving What We Can that I really put these ideas into action. I pledged to donate at least 10% of my income to effective charities and was driven to study business in hopes that I could earn to give more (I still don't make "make much" but it is a lot from a global perspective).

Though I believe significant systemic reforms are needed to create a more sustainable and equitable world, I continue to donate at least 10% of my income and use my career to support better todays and tomorrows for all beings.

Between now and the end of the year, I will allocate my donations as follows:

• 20% - The Life You Can Save's Helping Women & Girls Fund: This fund is for donors who seek to address the disproportionate burden on women and girls among people living in extreme poverty. Donations to the fund are split evenly between Breakthrough Trust, CEDOVIP, Educate Girls, Fistula Foundation, and Population Services International.
• 20% - Animal Charity Evaluators' Recommended Charity Fund: This fund supports 11 of the most impactful charities working to reduce animal suffering around the globe. The organizations supported by the fund include: Çiftlik Hayvanlarını Koruma Derneği, Dansk Vegetarisk Forening, Faunalytics, Fish Welfare Initiative, The Good Food Institute, The Humane League, Legal Impact for Chickens, New Roots Institute, Shrimp Welfare Project, Sinergia Animal, and the Wild Animal Initiative.
• 20% - Spiro: a new charity focused on preventing childhood deaths from Tuberculosis, fundraising for their first year. Donation details on Spiro's website here. Donations are tax-deductible in the US, UK, and the Netherlands.
• 15% - Giving What We Can's Risks and Resilience Fund: This fund allocates donations to highly effective organizations working to reduce global catastrophic risks. Funds are allocated evenly between the Long-Term Future Fund and the Emerging Challenges Fund.
• 10% - Founders Pledge's Climate Change Fund: This fund supports highly impactful, evidence-based solutions to the “triple challenge” of carbon emissions, air pollution, and energy poverty. Recent past recipients of grants from the Climate Change Fund include: Carbon180, Clean Air Task Force, TerraPraxis, and UN High Level Climate Champions.
• 10% - GiveDirectly: GiveDirectly provides unconditional cash transfers using cell phone technology to some of the world’s poorest people, as well as refugees, urban youth, and disaster victims. According to more than 300 independent reviews, cash is an effective way to help people living in poverty, yet people living in extreme poverty rarely get to decide how aid money intended to help them gets spent.
• 5% - Anima International: Anima aims to improve animal welfare standards via corporate outreach and policy change. They also engage in media outreach and institutional vegan outreach to decrease animal product consumption and increase the availability of plant-based options.

Other organizations whose work I have supported throughout the year include:

• American Civil Liberties Union Foundation
• EA Funds' Animal Welfare Fund, Global Health and Development Fund, Infrastructure Fund, and Long-Term Future Fund
• FairVote
• GiveWell's Top Charities Fund, All Grants Fund, and Unrestricted Fund
• Project on Government Oversight
• The Life You Can Save's All Charity Fund
• The Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation

Now, I would love to hear from you in the comments: 

What is your giving story? What are some of your favorite charities?