Donation Strategy 101
Multiply the impact of your donations, many times over.
One of the fastest (and best) ways to multiply your impact is to design a personal donation strategy.
Want to get started? The Consultants for Impact team has been thinking about the best giving opportunities for consultants since 2019. We've condensed our findings into an effective giving guide, which we update each holiday giving season.
Consultants making $100,000 USD/year (without dependents) are in the top 1% of richest people worldwide, and that includes adjustments for international purchasing power. Even if you were to donate 10% of that income, you will still be in the top 1%.
That's a serious opportunity. And many of underestimate how much of an impact donating a small portion of our salary can have. If that same consultant donated 10% of their earnings over a 30 year career to the Against Malaria Foundation, they could save 40+ people: more than many physicians.
With millions of charities to choose from, it can be hard to decide where to give. And choosing well matters! Research suggests that the best charities and interventions are 10,000 times more effective than the worst, and some charities actively make things worse.
This challenges cultural attitudes that say, "Giving is what matters, and it doesn't really matter where."
Recommended Charity Evaluators
Comparing charitable interventions is hard. Researchers at organizations like GiveWell and Founders Pledge are developing new standards and testing methodologies to find the most cost-effective ways to improve lives, anywhere.
Expert Managed Funds
Many of our members give to expert-managed funds which contain portfolios of highly-recommended projects. The best expert-managed funds use stringent selection criteria and update frequently based on new information.
We recommend:
- Founders Pledge’s Global Catastrophic Risks Fund or Longview Philanthropy’s funds, for donors who want to safeguard society against pandemics, AI, and other disasters
- Givewell's list of top recommendations, for donors looking for high-impact, cost-effective charities in a variety of impact areas
- Animal Charity Evaluators’ Recommended Charities Fund, for extremely cost-effective ways to reduce suffering in animals
Getting accurate revenue projections are critical for any organization to grow.
The same is true for high-impact nonprofits, like the Give Directly. Most are bottlenecked by funding, or by uncertainty regarding when funding may become available. Setting up recurring donations helps us stay motivated and avoid procrastinatingor using those resources elsewhere.
Transform Your Earnings into Real-World Change
Interested in giving $10,000 or more per year? Reach out to us so we can connect you to free professional donor advisors who can help your dollars do as much good as possible.
Need help deciding whether to pursue ‘earning to give’ or prioritize working directly on high-impact cause areas? We’re happy to help you think it through on a 1-1 call.
If you’re interested in making giving part of your monthly budget, consider joining Giving What We Can or One for the World: global groups of professionals who pledge to donate a proportion of their income to effective projects tackling the world’s most pressing challenges.
Taking a public pledge provides:
- Accountability, to help you stick with your goals
- Meaning and connection with a global community of committed donors
- A multiplier effect, by helping to inspire those around you to consider giving more significantly and effectively
Consulting firms often offer donation-matching programs for eligible charities where employees can add a free dollar-for-dollar match to their own gift up to a certain amount. It’s free money, but many employees don’t take advantage due to lack of awareness.
Our members have had great results leveraging these programs, including advocating to create them at their offices. We’re happy to help members find matching programs using donation match search tools or starting their own at their firm.
