Giving Compass' Take:

• Otis Fulton and Katrina VanHuss describe the complicated motivational differences between charitable giving and effective altruism, trying to pick apart the nuance of this practice. 

• How will effective altruism grow and change as time goes by? Will it start to follow more with philanthropic giving trends, or will it stay its own unique entity? 

• Learn more about getting started in effective altruism. 

For some time now, we have been interested in a movement in the nonprofit industry known as “effective altruism" which began as a research field which uses evidence-based data to maximize the effect of charitable giving to achieve the best outcomes possible.

In recent years, effective altruism has given rise to a number of organizations, like Givewell.org, that provide information to supporters and potential donors about nonprofits’ effectiveness.

The focus of effective altruism has typically been on directly improving the lives of individuals. One of the fundamental assumptions of effective altruism is that donors should value all human lives equally. This assumption has led some researchers to conclude that making donations to help people in the developing world is valued greater than making donations to help people in the developed world.

A study published last month in The Journal Psychological Science titled, “Impediments to Effective Altruism: The Role of Subjective Preferences in Charitable Giving,” sheds light on just how important an emotional connection is to the decision to support nonprofit missions. In the language of the researchers, this desire to connect on an emotional level “inhibits the impact of effectiveness information on welfare maximization.” In other words, people are not persuaded to make charitable donation decisions solely based on information about the effectiveness of their donations.

Read the full article about effective altruism by Otis Fulton and Katrina VanHuss at NonProfit PRO.