On the whole close observers of the nonprofit world tend to think that donating your money now is likely to achieve more good in the world than saving it up to donate after you die. That’s because donations now can, in some senses, make the donor better at doing good, and because history suggests that many of the best giving opportunities out there aren’t going to be around in 10 years — let alone in 50.

1. There’s some reason to think that your money will go further if you give it now than if you give it later.

The case here is a little complicated. In a field like global health, we know about lots of interventions that are valuable. As more money pours into supporting an important intervention, it will probably spread widely — especially wherever the conditions are ripe for it.

2. If you’re strategic about donating to charities that are running trials of promising new programs and learning through their research how to best get results, then your donations can actually change which giving opportunities are available in the future.

3. “Giving now cultivates your own virtue, and ensures that you’ll continue to live up to your own ideals,” Haseeb Qureshi wrote.

But there are good reasons to consider delaying your donation. Some charities are vastly more effective than others. Some highly effective charities are so flooded in money that they don’t use additional donations to expand their programs — meaning that your money won’t achieve much.

Read the full article about reasons to give sooner rather than later by Kelsey Piper at Vox.