Effective Altruism

Effective altruism uses evidence and reasoning to seek better ways to help others and act on them. It is a diverse intellectual project and movement, not a fixed charity ranking or guaranteed cost-per-outcome formula.

Effective altruism is an intellectual project and social movement concerned with using evidence and reasoning to find better ways to help others and acting on those findings. It often compares opportunities across causes and asks about the additional good a resource could produce. Participants differ in moral views, priorities, and how they treat uncertainty; the approach is not a single formula or a fixed list of favored organizations.

A useful comparison includes the counterfactual: what happens without this contribution, and what does the next unit of support make possible? Cost-effectiveness estimates are model-dependent and change with evidence, prices, and funding gaps. Hard-to-measure effects, affected people's knowledge, governance, and potential harms also deserve attention. A high expected benefit does not remove the need for honest methods or accountability.

When to use it

When comparing feasible ways to contribute resources toward helping others and when the comparison can inform a real decision.

How it can help

Compare additional impact, evidence, costs, uncertainty, governance, and affected people's priorities. Use current estimates and inspect assumptions instead of repeating a fixed donation claim.