Within the effective altruism community, it’s been a perennial debate: Doesn’t it make more sense to first maximize your success, and then donate down the road? But my answer has always been firm: you should give now rather than later.

I have several main reasons why you shouldn’t delay your giving.

Flow-through Effects

Most people imagine charitable giving as temporarily putting a band-aid on a social wound. But if that’s the case, it’s a sign that the intervention itself is not very effective. Effective giving tends to produce compounding benefits and flow-through effects. Thus you should expect the rate of return on the very best charities to have higher returns than marginal self-investment or the returns you can make in capital markets.

Influencing Others

People often believe that charity should be private or secret. I strongly disagree. The best way to inspire people to give is to do it yourself. So give loudly, proudly, and actively encourage others to do the same.

Influencing Yourself

How can you stay true to your ideals? It’s simple. Make a habit of virtue. Stay inside it. Keep it as a part of your life. Have it seep into your bones. Give year after year, even if it slows you down.

The path is long and sometimes disenchanting, but virtue and discipline are the only way forward.

Read the full article about yearly donations, effective altruism, and giving now by Haseeb Qureshi at freeCodeCamp.org.