Bringing Effective Giving to Dublin

Effective Giving Ireland was thrilled to host some of the world’s leading thinkers on effective giving at an event in Dublin on September 18^th. Our EGI co-founder, Jamie Cassidy, sits on the donor council for GiveWell, the renowned effective giving organisation in the area of global health and development. He led a dynamic panel discussion with GiveWell staff Maggie Lloydhauser, Senior Philanthropy Advisor and Adam Salisbury, Senior Researcher. In attendance were several Giving What We Can pledgers (who donate 10% of their lifetime income to effective charities), as well as individuals new to effective giving, many of them from Dublin's tech and finance industries, some curious about the concept of donating the way you invest, others just tempted by pizza and beer … 
‍

‍
The session was generously hosted by Baseline, in a stunning room with a spectacular view of the Dublin Mountains on one side and the legendary Vicar Street Theatre on the other.

To say that the discussion was compelling and provocative would be an understatement. The scheduled 40-minute discussion had to be cut off after 2 hours, and even the “one last question” turned into about five before people finally moved, continuing their discussion in smaller groups, to finish the pizza and beer.

(yes, you read that right, we had to almost physically drag Irish people away from a panel debate over to the free bar).

It's probably not news to anyone that Irish people are passionate about charity and care deeply about helping less fortunate people. But even people who’ve been working in the charity sector in Ireland for decades were surprised at the depth of the passion … and also at the lack of basic information that is available here.

Most attendees fell into one of two camps.

• The first had never really thought that they might apply quantitative criteria like “but how much impact will my donation have?” to charitable donations. Once their eyes were opened, they immediately wondered how something so obvious had apparently escaped them. But it’s not strange. It’s part of the way charitable giving is presented to us in Ireland, with the focus on the “personal sacrifice” rather than on the people our donation helps. 
• The second group had already had this insight, but had quickly discovered that there is not that much information available. A few had done a lot of research and discovered Givewell or Giving What We Can, but many hadn’t even realised that such a thing existed.

Another thing we all learned is that there is no one “right” answer. There were three passionate “effective givers” on stage, and many more in the audience, but there were many questions where opinions were sharply divided – a great sign that people don’t want to rest on their laurels, but to find increasingly effective donation strategies. At times it resembled an investor symposium, with some supporting the safe strategy we know works, but others pushing for a high-risk / high-reward strategy.

And the great thing is that, as a donor, you get to choose and see the outcome of your donation. In the end, effective giving isn’t just more impactful than most donations: it might also be more intellectually engaging and more exciting. It combines the feel-good factor of helping your local dog shelter and seeing those happy puppies with the strategy of playing Monopoly or investing in the stock market.

After the discussion, we don’t know for sure who was convinced by which arguments, but we did notice the speed with which the free € 5 donations that each attendee received from event partner Goodwallet were invested. If you’re struggling to find a good Christmas gift idea, what about a donation where the recipient gets to choose which effective charity to support?

At one point, the group even debated whether tax-deductibility for charities, on the whole, might do more harm than good. Not something you’d hear most charities engage with … the jury remains out, and for now, at EGI we are in the process of obtaining tax-deductible status. 

Another interesting moment was when the Givewell team asked a long-term donor, in a public setting, to talk about times he has disagreed with Givewell’s strategies - which he did, at length - and then hearing him explain why he continue to support their work; basically, he explained that GiveWell is the only charity where he could even see the work in enough detail to even have those disagreements, and where people actually engage with his feedback.

We at EGI came away from the evening with a confirmation that we can fill a vital gap in the Irish Charity sector by helping people who want their donations to help as many people as possible – and in the case of most donors, just nudging them to at least consider the possibility of thinking about this … 

Following the success of this event, we plan many more, as there is clearly an interest and an audience – people who care, people who want to do as much good as they can, people who want to make the world better. If you’re part of this group, we’d love to see you at our next event, in Baseline again, on November 19^th (more details and how to sign up)

To find out more about Effective Giving Ireland, please explore our website or contact us (effectivegivingireland@gmail.com).