I highly recommend donating some amount of your time, expertise, or money to good causes, regardless of your financial situation. Even the smallest amounts compound to amazing results—especially over long stretches over time.
When I was a student I made (very!) modest contributions to clean water projects, microfinance organizations, and the reports I now read as a mature adult are so gratifying.
I also try to keep a "charity" type project in my queue - volunteering my tech skills to help fix/build things for NGOs so fun to look back on.
I'd also like to point people towards the Giving What We Can pledge to donate some percentage of their income to charity.
While this is of course closely related to EA, which many people here are (both deservedly and undeservedly) not big fans of, it doesn't require you to choose some specific charities or agree with their moral framework. Consistently donating money to whatever cause you personally value would make the world a much better place compared to not donating anything.
I really recommend people consider doing it regardless of their views on EA or the charities they recommend. I'm not a big fan of the modern EA community myself, but I agree that the money that barely make a difference in my life could be life changing for others.
https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/
On a somewhat unrelated note, also consider signing up for blood and stem cell donation!
It’s very distinctly anti-EA, as in EA is known to advise not to do these things, because it’s not the most “effective” altruism.
And people don’t like them for that exactly, quite deservedly.
The GWWC pledge is very explicitly an EA initiative.
If you're talking about stem cell and blood donations, yes, there are many EAs who are against that for stupid reasons like "why would I spend 30 minutes donating blood when I can spend them on my very effective work", but those are also just the vocal minority and most are pretty reasonable about doing easy helpful things in addition to the main "effective" stuff. Notably for example, many EAs even do undirected kidney donations, despite other EAs arguing it's not "effective" enough.
The "Giving What We Can Pledge" very literally was created by effective altruists and the organization that promotes it is explicitly an effective altruist organization, founded by effective altruists William MacAskill and Toby Ord.
What is “EA” in this context?
Effective altruism.
It's a very small, tech-literate and philosophically straightforward death cult.
Eh, it's more like a small international aid community which got taken over by a very vocal death cult of SF software engineers.
Can you elaborate on this? I thought Peter Singer was behind EA. What happened to the org?
Yeah, and his original ideas are mostly about helping poor countries, and some about helping animals. Those two things are still two of three main EA cause areas, and they're the good parts of the community (if you agree with the core ideas)
But then came all the people who believe AI will absolutely kill us all, and nowadays the EA community is mostly Anthropic employees thinking their work is the most important thing anyone can ever do and that they're literally saving humanity from extinction. It's just based on vibes, but they try to make it seem very evidence based by associating with a hardcore utilitarian philosophy.
It's kinda funny going to any EA website and seeing paragraphs like
"What can X$ achieve? 1. Save a human life 2. Save 500 animal lives 3. Fund 1 week of AI research"
One of those is not like the others, and yet the people advocating for it are the most vocal and famous part of EA.
What an interesting funding strategy for a Claude sub
Solid explanation. A+.
Where do you find NGOs/projects that you can volunteer your tech skills to help? This sort of thing is something I've been interested in for a while but haven't been able to find a good place to start looking considering I havent previously done tech oriented charity work
https://www.highimpactprofessionals.org/
https://rendered.one/
Those two sites help with job matching for nonprofits. The first has both volunteering and paid positions, the second only paid AFAIK.
That first one - I like the concept but the website looks like it ultimately wants to sell me something, which is not a great look, tbh
Second one a bit too corporate-y for my taste, but looks like it fills a good gap.
These are great links, thanks a lot.
Second that.
Do you have personal experience with both? #2 looks like AI slop, from design to copy.
It's not AI slop, it's just bland design with corporate speak that the AI got trained on. There are plenty of pre-LLM sites just like that (most shadcn websites, for example)
Did you even look at it?
The copy on this side is synthetic and I'm betting my left nut on it. The thing that irritates me the most is the sentence fragment sing-song, the overexplaining, and the empty drama everywhere.
OpenAI did an 80% good job analysing this Claudesque landing page nightmare: https://chatgpt.com/share/6ac83ba2-2fe8-83ed-9000-939dc2fa0a...
(Sorry for being lazy here, I'm honestly just super tired of repeating the same things over and over again. Nothing against you, it's a 100% me problem and growing frustrating with the slop firehose. )
Ukraine volunteer here: - Find local charities where you can meet people face to face, and do your own due diligence, this is because: - The best/most tech-starved charities are the ones where they're continously in the trenches of the charities activities (so they won't even be on tech skill matching charity job boards) — and are generally poorly represented online
Seconded.
This is my experience with Microfinance
I've been funding Microfinance loans, $25 at a time, for a while now. Just checked the numbers - I have spent only about 5K in total, made almost 68K for ~2900 loans (keep recycling the money when repayments come in).
Lost motivation for a few years in between, after Covid. Used to think it is just $25, what difference can it make? I was totally wrong. $25 won't even get a good pizza these days in most American cities, it is not a lot in the west. But it can have amazing purchasing power in Africa, parts of Asia etc.
What I am trying to say is - even if we have just $10, it is okay, it can be of immense help to someone. There is Watsi, there is Kiva, Doctors without Borders and many more great projects, like Tanzania Education Project.
Here is a very simplistic (and optimistic) calculation by ChatGPT - simply loaning $25 month consistently can help more than a 1000 people in 20 years
https://chatgpt.com/share/6ac80150-feb8-83e8-a6b0-4b162c056a...
I used to think I need lots of capital to help, this shows how wrong that line of thinking is.
Is that profit or revenue? If it was profit it would be $23 per loan which suggests that the loan interest would have been 100% which I find hard to believe.
But more importantly, can you share the details of how you did that practically? Did you do this yourself or as part of a larger organization who just took your money and paid you back later?
There is no profit/interest for lenders. I do it through kiva.org Kiva doesn't make the loans directly either - they partner with local organizations in the countries they operate in. Any interest these local orgs charge, is for their operating expenses. Lenders on Kiva do not get interest. There is also a chance of losing money if loans are defaulted, due to currency exchange loss etc (I have to check the exact amount, but I have lost some due to defaults)
https://www.kiva.org/about/how
I also tried a couple of other Microfinance orgs (can't remember the names now), but kept going back to Kiva. Been doing it for 15 years, so it slowly adds up, even though I wasn't consistent.
There is no profit/interest for lenders
That's what I expected. Thanks. Your wording: "made almost 68K for ~2900 loans" had me confused. Making money means profit or income to me. You didn't make any money but you helped 2900 people.
68k/25=2720. That suggests that the defaults are less than 10%. That's not so bad I think.
Ah, apologies for the bad wording :(
Your calculation is right (there were some loans that were refunded, so it is a bit higher than 2720). You could ask ChatGPT (or use Excel) for a quick calculation. $25 a month is such a small amount in the west, if anyone wants to do it (I did it inconsistently, some months $0 some months $200).
All this to show - a dollar goes a LONG way in parts of Asia, Africa etc.
Her entire 18-month master's program (tuition, registration, fees, books, supplies) comes to 3,060,000 TSh, about $1,161.
$1,161 - that is a shockingly small amount for a 18 month master's program!
Another org I admire is https://watsi.org/ Costs listed there is so small (compared to the west) that every dollar can help
Thanks for reminding me of Kiva. I used to be big on it when I was younger. Just sent US$50 to a Liberian to fund her clothing business, hope it works out.
I think that’s how much money was loaned with $25 dollars being loaned, paid back, loaned, paid back.
I highly recommend not to. The potential for whole operation being a scam because you have no way to verify anything is pretty high. Now add there reality of generative AI and very easy way to make deep fakes and essentially every charity is certified scam.
You may see it as cynical or unfair but that's unfortunate reality of time we currently live in.
Yes that is definitionally cynical and also factually inaccurate. (U.S.) Non-profits are legally obligated to file public tax returns detailing revenues and expenditures. This represents at least one way that you yourself can vet charities. Unless you think a large portion of charities are successfully defrauding the IRS and/or colluding with third-party charity watchdogs the odds of a given charity being an outright scam are low. There is a question of efficiency and impact, there's always the chance that a corrupt local government will siphon away well-intentioned dollars or that medicine will expire before it can be administered; maybe one could make the case that many charities are disappointingly inefficient, but that's very different from saying it's completely futile to donate.
I highly recommend to diversify. Donate a smaller amount to a bunch of different charities.
There are plenty of good causes you can verify yourself if you need to. I guarantee you live near someone feeling food insecurity or lack of housing.
Yes, best to live in a cave and never take any risks or have any contact with dangerous, suspicious, filthy humans.
It's fine. There is plenty of good in the world. Touch some grass and take a deep breath.
hot take :/ Would you really have trouble trusting the OP?
Maybe you just don't want to donate resources in general, because otherwise surely there exists some channel you could witness with your own eyes and donate to with confidence.
I think there are good trustworthy places to donate and the person you replied to was a bit too cynical. OP might be a good place to donate! However:
> hot take :/ Would you really have trouble trusting the OP?
Yes? Your first instinct when someone tells you a sob story or an epic western savior spiel is to do your due diligence.
Recent HN account, the website is a year old, they don't list the 501 EIN and searching for "Tanzania Education Project" on https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/ yields nothing. OP doesn't list his name on the website (but it is on gofundme).
OP seems genuine, but there are many red flags.
I understand where you're coming from and I think that gut reaction is appropriate.
My name is Luke Bodmer. I graduated in June with a PhD in Computational Science from the University at Buffalo in New York and I am currently working in los angeles as a post-doc in Nuerosurgery at a major hospital doing cancer research. I'm a real person, you can look me up!
Not listing the EIN was an oversight. It is EIN: 87-3919577. I'll add it to the site when I get home tonight from work. If you look it up you might see "Ibumila Fund" which is what it was called before I named it to Tanzania Education Project.
The epic western savior thing is very cringy and I don't know how to avoid it at his point in the project. I try to limit my role as much as possible and have everything done by Tanzanians in Tanzania. Eventually I hope to remove myself from the site and the story and have it be a fully Tanzanian effort. I don't see how I can remove myself at this point.
Ideally I don't want people to look at this effort as "oh look at how good of people we are!". My hope is that people will assess their situation and the situation of the children in the village and feel compelled to give because it is fair and right.
I appreciate your skepticism and I think its totally fair. This post is really the first time I'm going public beyond my inner circle with this effort and any tips on how I can build trust are really appreciated.
Maybe it would help people to understand why you're posting on HN? You don't seem to have a history here, so what is HN to you other than "convenient forum for access to a bunch of tech people who probably have decent money available to donate?" Sorry for casting that in the worst possible light, but I figured it's better to steel man the theoretical opposition to supporting you. It sounds like you're doing good work, so yay, and congrats.
That's fair too. I have a PhD in Computational science. I read HN every morning. I've been lurking here since around 2018 and just made an account recently.
Honestly I made my first social media account about 4 months ago just to prove I was a real person after I finished my PhD and was applying for the next steps. I've never been one to post on the internet or engage with social media. I don't really know the etiquette of any other social site so I figured I would reach out here first since it felt familiar.
Regarding etiquette, this comment makes an interesting point: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49982051
keeping that in mind I believe you started at the right place as HN is probably more forgiving, especially when it turns out that the person in question is able to strike the right tone to fit in, which I believe you do.
I am in a similar position having created this account once I decided to move to Africa, and I am still trying to figure out how to promote my work. As part of that I try to engage on topics that are related to Africa to slowly develop my standing and share my experience.
I took a look at your links. You switched from "Computer images processing" to "Oncology"? Are you applying your thesis to real patients? It looks like you already took a few courses in medicine before graduating.
(I think it's an unusual path, but it looks legit.)
> I don't really know the etiquette of any other social site so I figured I would reach out here first since it felt familiar.
I think your etiquete is fine, but asking for money always raise suspicion.
Hey you really did your homework. I appreciate it. How did you find out I took courses in medicine? Did you find the Harvard publication on CDS&E Collaborative Research that I'm referenced in?
I actually spent 2 years in Córdoba Argentina studying medicine before covid threw a wrench in that. That's when I pivoted to come back to the US to pursue an idea for a medical imaging device I thought up.
My PhD was focused on building a proof of concept for a mobile and affordable medical imaging device. Honestly the concept certainly tied back to spending time in rural hospitals in Tanzania (for other people, I wasn't sick) and seeing the lack of imaging and resources in those places.
The lab I'm working in is "mathematical neuro-oncology" and it happens to be in the neurosurgery department of a major US hospital. We're essentially trying to use our computational skills to make progress in brain cancer research so they hired me for my background in computation and imaging and medicine.
Do you have a technical blog post about "mobile and affordable medical imaging device" at the ELI25 level? Bonus imaginary points if it has a few nice graphics and photos.
It may be a nice submission for HN. (But wait a week or so before posting it.)
[Hi from Buenos Aires!]
You're making me miss that beautiful country.
I take your point. I have some things I could submit and I'll contribute more hacker related topics soon.
The epic western savior thing is very cringy and I don't know how to avoid it at his point in the project. I try to limit my role as much as possible
I think an important part is to figure out what is the best way to contribute. While it is good to let Tanzanians do as much as possible by themselves, they can't reach out to your friends. Only you can do that. When I tell my country mates about programmers in Africa, and I get a response like "They can do that?" with a big surprise impression on their face [1], I don't see how any African could do that by themselves. Bridges need to be built from both sides. If you remove yourself then you end up with half a bridge.
[1]: That was just one reaction I got when I told people about my work in Africa. Starkly contrasted by another reaction which was the opposite: "Oh cool, I am hiring devs in Ghana, they are awesome!". It's not all lost, but a lot of people simply still don't know. And that includes African-Americans.
I totally understand what you are saying and it good food for thought. I guess what I'm trying to say is there is a way to view these things where its not about being a good person but more about fulfilling a moral obligation. Like if someone is choking I don't know if it makes you a good person to do the heimlich maneuver, but I think it certainly makes you a bad person if you just sit there and do nothing.
That is sort of the light I see this in. Instead of people thinking "oh what a good person" I hope that they think "wow, look what a difference such a small amount of money can make. And look at all the untapped potential in these kids".
I absolutely agree. This isn't about good or bad. This is about understanding what works and what doesn't. That's why I came to Africa. To learn about the reality here and find out what, if anything an individual can even do to contribute, and more importantly, which contributions make sense, which are needed, what is it really that holds the development in Africa back. A lot of that are things that an individual can't influence, but there are small things we can do that make a difference in a few individuals lives in such a way that they will have a good chance of having an impact on others as well.
One thing that I feel is important, is that I do not believe charity, handouts in general are a good idea. they make people dependent or expectant of such charity instead of motivating them to solve problems.
Paying for education however is different. Education should be free. I come from a country where all education including university is free. So when I pay for a students education I am not being charitable, but I am correcting an error in the system.
Another way to look at it is to see going to school as the kids job. I literally got one kid off the streets by paying for their school and board, and all other personal expenses. The kid had already dropped out of school and ran away from home, and I offered to help only if and as long they would go back to school. That was their job. Their obligation.
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since i didn't see it mentioned anywhere here yet (and i know it's been around forever i've been using it for about 10 years) kiva.org is a really good one for micro loans/lending.
I don't think it's good. The cause here is ensuring African countries experience the same demographic collapse as western ones?
Most charities do more harm than good. Does this charity operate in the best interest of the state? which state? Why don't people ask these questions instead of consuming feel-good slop?
It's not an entirely moral judgement if your actions put them in conflict with the state.
You are making very specific claims towards a rather generic comment, so I don't understand your point. How does supporting charities, especially the mentioned clean water and microfinance types, which I believe are among the few which really do help a lot, relate to demographic collapse? And most charities doing harm? Some, sure. Many, maybe. But most? I doubt it. That's a broad claim that requires evidence.
Is getting more children to school not in everyone's best interest? As for conflict with the state, in Tanzania any charity/NGO has to operate for three years before they are even allowed to apply for official recognized status. It makes sense to me. They can't control what everyone is doing. So go, do, and if you want to be officially recognized then show what you did for 3 years and they'll see if they like it. If they don't, they'll probably be told to stop. Small operations like this one can probably be ignored.
I'm not sure if you are referencing my post or the OP but my charity doesn't operating in the interest of any state. It just provides no-string-attached funding for education and healthcare to kids in Ibumila.
what does "microfinance organizations" even mean? loan sharks?
The opposite actually. They provide small loans with generous conditions, and often also with guidance and education on how to start a business.