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Giving What We Can - Wikipedia

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Background reference on GWWC, a key institution in the effective altruism ecosystem; tangentially related to AI safety through shared founders and community overlap with longtermist and AI risk communities.

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Importance: 22/100wiki pagereference

Summary

Wikipedia article on Giving What We Can (GWWC), an effective altruism nonprofit founded in 2009 by Toby Ord and William MacAskill at Oxford University. The organization promotes the 10% Pledge, encouraging members to donate at least 10% of their income to highly effective charities. It has grown to nearly 9,000 members as of 2024.

Key Points

  • Founded in 2009 by Toby Ord, William MacAskill, and Bernadette Young at Oxford with 23 initial members.
  • Promotes the '10% Pledge' — committing to donate at least 10% of income to effective charities over one's working life.
  • Central organization within the effective altruism movement, focusing on evidence-based, high-impact charitable giving.
  • Membership grew to nearly 9,000 by 2024, representing a significant community of committed donors.
  • Inspired by philosophical arguments from Peter Singer and Thomas Pogge about moral obligations to address global poverty.

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Giving What We CanOrganization62.0

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# Giving What We Can

Giving What We Can

Nonprofit organization that promotes effective giving

| [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/0f/Giving_What_We_Can_logo.svg/500px-Giving_What_We_Can_logo.svg.png)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Giving_What_We_Can_logo.svg) |
| Abbreviation | GWWC |
| Formation | 2009;17years ago(2009) |
| Founders | - [Toby Ord](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toby_Ord "Toby Ord")<br>- Bernadette Young<br>- [William MacAskill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_MacAskill "William MacAskill") |
| Founded at | [Oxford](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford "Oxford"), England |
| Type | [Charity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charitable_organization "Charitable organization") |
| Registrationno. | 1207964 (UK) |
| Purpose | Promoting [effective giving](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_giving "Effective giving") |
| Membership | 8,983 (2024) |
| President | Toby Ord |
| Website | [www.givingwhatwecan.org](https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/) |

Giving What We Can

**Giving What We Can** ( **GWWC**) is an [effective altruism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_altruism "Effective altruism") nonprofit that promotes effective giving through education, outreach, and advocacy around the 10% Pledge, which encourages members to donate at least 10% of their income to effective charities.[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giving_What_We_Can#cite_note-GWWC-about-1) It was founded at [Oxford University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_University "Oxford University") in 2009 by philosophers [Toby Ord](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toby_Ord "Toby Ord") and [William MacAskill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_MacAskill "William MacAskill").[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giving_What_We_Can#cite_note-:2-2)

## History

[![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Toby_Ord.jpg/500px-Toby_Ord.jpg)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Toby_Ord.jpg) [Toby Ord](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toby_Ord "Toby Ord") is one of the founders of Giving What We Can.

Giving What We Can was launched as a giving society with 23 members[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giving_What_We_Can#cite_note-wsj2011-3) in 2009 by [Toby Ord](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toby_Ord "Toby Ord"), an ethics researcher at [Oxford](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford "Oxford"), his wife Bernadette Young, a physician in training at the time, and fellow ethicist [William MacAskill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_MacAskill "William MacAskill")[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giving_What_We_Can#cite_note-GuardianExtreme-4)[\[5\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giving_What_We_Can#cite_note-Singer2015-5)[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giving_What_We_Can#cite_note-:2-2) with the goal of encouraging people to give at least 10% of income over the course of their working life to alleviate world poverty.[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giving_What_We_Can#cite_note-bbc-6) This is similar to _[M

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