Chances are you’d like each dollar you donate to do the greatest good it can. You want to avoid weak and poorly run charities that waste money. You want to find strong, well-run and effective charities, and support them.
If you become just 20% more effective in your investing, you’ll produce significant benefits for your pocketbook. If you become just 20% more effective in your giving, you’ll produce significantly more good for the world. In both cases, the benefits are measurable in real dollars.
Take George, for example. He’s not a Rockefeller or a Gates, just an adult who is generous.
- George gives about $1,000 per year to charities, and plans to give $50,000 more when he dies.
- George is 50 years old, and based on his remaining life expectancy (from the Social Security Administration Office of the Actuary), has about 28 more years of annual giving.
- Than means George will give $78,000 to charities in the future ($28,000 before he dies, and $50,000 from his estate).
- If he’s just 20% more effective (smarter) as a giver, he’ll do almost $16,000 more good — that’s like adding 16 years of giving!
The sooner George starts being a smarter giver, the greater the long-term results he’ll produce.