Turning good intentions into greater impact

Meet people applying effective altruism to do more good with their time, money, and resources.

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What is effective altruism?

A philosophy

Using reason and evidence to find the most effective ways to help others. Read more in this essay.

A movement

A global network of people and organizations putting the ideas into practice.

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Is effective altruism a charity?

No, effective altruism is not a charity. It is a philosophy and movement focused on using evidence and reason to do the most good. However, there are many charities and organizations inspired by effective altruism principles. Learn more by reading the introduction to effective altruism.

What are examples of the impact of effective altruism?

People inspired by effective altruism have launched high-impact charities, guided major donations, and shaped research on global challenges. View examples here.

How do I get involved?

Learn more by reading the introduction to effective altruism
View recommended videos, books, podcasts, and articles
Get career guidance, donation recommendations, and connect with others on the take action page

Effective altruism in action

From global health to existential risk: see how people apply effective altruism across diverse fields

Read

“
Before I discovered EA, I was wrestling with a common question: how can I use my time and my career in a way that's actually useful for the world?
”

Melanie Brennan

English teacher turned community builder

Read

“
The financial sacrifice of moving from a job in finance to the animal NGO space was a challenge, but the promise of meaning outweighed the costs for me.
”

Andrés Jiménez Zorrilla

Morgan Stanley investor turned animal welfare advocate

Read

“
Hearing that your dollar could go 100 times further overseas really struck me. Of course, if I could help a hundred times more people, I wanted to do that.
”

Grace Adams

Management consultant turned champion for effective giving

Read

“
We can be more than we often make ourselves out to be, especially morally speaking. We can do more, we can be more.
”

Cecil Abungu

Law student turned AI safety researcher

Read

“
One of the best skills EA has given me is the ability to prioritize. I don't know if all philosophy students are prone to analysis paralysis, but that was certainly the case for me.
”

James Herbert

Consultant turned community leader

Read

“
I studied arts management with dreams of organizing festivals and concerts, but when I actually tried it, I realized it didn't give me a sense of purpose.
”

Sarah Tegeler

Arts management student turned nonprofit director

Read

“
These ideas, along with other influences, helped me identify farmed animal welfare, wild animal welfare, invertebrate welfare, and AI welfare as areas of focus.
”

Jeff Sebo

Philosophy PhD turned author and NYU professor

Read

“
To me, effective altruism means thinking deeply and putting care into using our resources — thoughtfully and impartially to best improve the lives of others.
”

Sam Anschell

Poker dealer turned global aid grantmaker

What the community has achieved

Browse projects from the effective altruism community

Global health and economic development

Protected hundreds of millions of people against malaria through the distribution of insecticide-treated nets

Against Malaria Foundation

Built mobile financial solutions for millions of users across Africa

Wave

Advocated for human challenge trials to understand COVID-19

1Day Sooner

Implemented regulations that are projected to prevent lead exposure in tens of millions of children by 2100

Lead Exposure Elimination Project (LEEP)

Supported the delivery over $800 million in cash transfers to over 1.6 million people in need in 12 countries

GiveDirectly

Animal welfare

Freed hundreds of millions of hens from painful battery cages

Open Wing Alliance

Helped secure regulatory clearance for cultivated meat in the United States

Good Food Institute

Established a new legal framework for animal advocates to challenge animal cruelty in court

Legal Impact for Chickens

Secured commitments from top companies to adopt higher animal welfare policies

Anima International

Existential risk and the long-term future

Researched the implications of superintelligent AI for humanity's future

Forethought

Pioneered advances in the field of mechanistic interpretability

Neel Nanda, Google Deep Mind

Developed a monitoring network to detect concerning biological sequences before they spread

Nucleic Acid Observatory

Research and charity evaluation

Directed more than $2.4 billion of donations to evidence-backed charities, informed by 60,000+ research hours each year

GiveWell

Produced groundbreaking research that influenced millions in philanthropic funding decisions, including studies on animal welfare, global health priorities, and existential risk reduction

Rethink Priorities

Incubated 40+ effective nonprofits serving 35 million people and 1 billion animals

Charity Entrepreneurship

Influenced more than $68 million toward highly effective charities and projects helping animals

Animal Charity Evaluators

Grantmaking, fundraising, and donor advising

Built a network of thousands of pledgers who have donated more than $300 million

Giving What We Can

Empowered entrepreneurs to give effectively, mobilizing $1.5 billion in charitable donations across 2,500+ pledges

Founders Pledge

Advised millions of dollars to evidence-based climate interventions

Giving Green

Founded Germany's leading effective giving platform, directing millions of Euros to highly impactful charities

Effektiv Spenden

Featured in

Four ideas you probably already agree with

That could mean you're already on board with effective altruism

1. It’s important to help others

When people are in need and we can help them, we think that we should. Most people think millionaires should give back, but few realize that even those earning the median wage in a rich country typically rank among the global top 5% of the world’s wealthy. See where you fall on the global income scale.

2. Everyone deserves equal consideration

Everyone has an equal claim to being happy, healthy, fulfilled and free, whatever their circumstances. Everyone matters, wherever they live, however rich they are, and whatever their ethnicity, age, gender, ability, or religious views.

3. Helping more is better than helping less

All else being equal, we should save more lives, help people live longer, and make more people happier. If the same resources will improve 20 lives instead of one, it’s better to improve 20.

4. Our resources are limited

We have a finite amount of money to spend. This is also true of our time. Choosing to spend money or time on one option is an implicit choice not to spend it on other options.

It’s important to help others
People are equal
Helping more is better than helping less
Our resources are limited

Research and ideas

Insights and research that have shaped the movement

“Many of the concepts in effective altruism will be familiar to economists. What is unusual is to see these tools used to develop a practical guide on how to live an ethical life. It doesn’t tell you what choices to make; instead it sets out a simple framework for how to think through decisions.”

Dr. Rachel Glennerster, Associate Professor at the University of Chicago

Get a copy for free through the Impact Books program

Find ways to help

There are many ways to take action—through donations, career choices, volunteering, and much more

View past editions

Turning good intentions into greater impact

Meet people applying effective altruism to do more good with their time, money, and resources.

What is effective altruism?

A philosophy

A movement

Is effective altruism a charity?

What are examples of the impact of effective altruism?

How do I get involved?

Effective altruism in action

“Before I discovered EA, I was wrestling with a common question: how can I use my time and my career in a way that's actually useful for the world?”

Before I discovered EA, I was wrestling with a common question: how can I use my time and my career in a way that's actually useful for the world?

“The financial sacrifice of moving from a job in finance to the animal NGO space was a challenge, but the promise of meaning outweighed the costs for me.”

The financial sacrifice of moving from a job in finance to the animal NGO space was a challenge, but the promise of meaning outweighed the costs for me.

“Hearing that your dollar could go 100 times further overseas really struck me. Of course, if I could help a hundred times more people, I wanted to do that.”

Hearing that your dollar could go 100 times further overseas really struck me. Of course, if I could help a hundred times more people, I wanted to do that.

“We can be more than we often make ourselves out to be, especially morally speaking. We can do more, we can be more.”

We can be more than we often make ourselves out to be, especially morally speaking. We can do more, we can be more.

“One of the best skills EA has given me is the ability to prioritize. I don't know if all philosophy students are prone to analysis paralysis, but that was certainly the case for me.”

One of the best skills EA has given me is the ability to prioritize. I don't know if all philosophy students are prone to analysis paralysis, but that was certainly the case for me.

“I studied arts management with dreams of organizing festivals and concerts, but when I actually tried it, I realized it didn't give me a sense of purpose.”

I studied arts management with dreams of organizing festivals and concerts, but when I actually tried it, I realized it didn't give me a sense of purpose.

“These ideas, along with other influences, helped me identify farmed animal welfare, wild animal welfare, invertebrate welfare, and AI welfare as areas of focus.”

These ideas, along with other influences, helped me identify farmed animal welfare, wild animal welfare, invertebrate welfare, and AI welfare as areas of focus.

“To me, effective altruism means thinking deeply and putting care into using our resources — thoughtfully and impartially to best improve the lives of others.”

To me, effective altruism means thinking deeply and putting care into using our resources — thoughtfully and impartially to best improve the lives of others.

What the community has achieved

Global health and economic development

Protected hundreds of millions of people against malaria through the distribution of insecticide-treated nets

Built mobile financial solutions for millions of users across Africa

Advocated for human challenge trials to understand COVID-19

Implemented regulations that are projected to prevent lead exposure in tens of millions of children by 2100

Supported the delivery over $800 million in cash transfers to over 1.6 million people in need in 12 countries

Animal welfare

Freed hundreds of millions of hens from painful battery cages

Helped secure regulatory clearance for cultivated meat in the United States

Established a new legal framework for animal advocates to challenge animal cruelty in court

Secured commitments from top companies to adopt higher animal welfare policies

Existential risk and the long-term future

Researched the implications of superintelligent AI for humanity's future

Pioneered advances in the field of mechanistic interpretability

Developed a monitoring network to detect concerning biological sequences before they spread

Research and charity evaluation

Directed more than $2.4 billion of donations to evidence-backed charities, informed by 60,000+ research hours each year

Produced groundbreaking research that influenced millions in philanthropic funding decisions, including studies on animal welfare, global health priorities, and existential risk reduction

Incubated 40+ effective nonprofits serving 35 million people and 1 billion animals

Influenced more than $68 million toward highly effective charities and projects helping animals

Grantmaking, fundraising, and donor advising

Built a network of thousands of pledgers who have donated more than $300 million

Empowered entrepreneurs to give effectively, mobilizing $1.5 billion in charitable donations across 2,500+ pledges

Advised millions of dollars to evidence-based climate interventions

Founded Germany's leading effective giving platform, directing millions of Euros to highly impactful charities

Four ideas you probably already agree with

1. It’s important to help others

2. Everyone deserves equal consideration

3. Helping more is better than helping less

4. Our resources are limited

Research and ideas

What are the most important moral problems of our time?

Why you think you're right — even if you're wrong

The why and how of effective altruism

The case that career choice is your key moral decision

Which charities improve global health the most per dollar?

Why this might be humanity’s most important century

Receive a book of ideas related to effective altruism

Find ways to help

Take a free online course

Read the intro essay

Donate to effective charities

Get career guidance

Join a group

Attend a conference

“
Before I discovered EA, I was wrestling with a common question: how can I use my time and my career in a way that's actually useful for the world?
”

“
The financial sacrifice of moving from a job in finance to the animal NGO space was a challenge, but the promise of meaning outweighed the costs for me.
”

“
Hearing that your dollar could go 100 times further overseas really struck me. Of course, if I could help a hundred times more people, I wanted to do that.
”

“
We can be more than we often make ourselves out to be, especially morally speaking. We can do more, we can be more.
”

“
One of the best skills EA has given me is the ability to prioritize. I don't know if all philosophy students are prone to analysis paralysis, but that was certainly the case for me.
”

“
I studied arts management with dreams of organizing festivals and concerts, but when I actually tried it, I realized it didn't give me a sense of purpose.
”

“
These ideas, along with other influences, helped me identify farmed animal welfare, wild animal welfare, invertebrate welfare, and AI welfare as areas of focus.
”

“
To me, effective altruism means thinking deeply and putting care into using our resources — thoughtfully and impartially to best improve the lives of others.
”