Giving What We Can

The pledge is a voluntary and non-legal commitment to donate 10% of one's income. This figure is the minimum percentage and was chosen because it has a good balance. It is a significant proportion of income, in recognition of the importance of the problem and the need for real action. But it is also within the reach of most people in the developed world. Some members decide to go further and commit to donating 20% or even 50%.[23]

Some members decide to go even further and perform the "Further Pledge".

Founder Toby Ord further pledged to donate anything he earned over £20,000 a year, based on his conviction that he could live comfortably and happily on this income. This level of commitment is called "The Further Pledge". The member defines a basic annual income that they expect to live on. All income above this level will be donated to effective measures.[24] Co-founder Will MacAskill is also among those who have made a similar pledge.

Because some people may be interested in GWWC but not yet ready to take the pledge, it is also possible to make a temporary commitment called "Try Giving". This involves making a commitment to donate at least 1% of one's income for a specified period of time.[25]

In 2020, GWWC launched the option for companies to also declare their commitment to donating to effective organizations. In this case, companies commit to donate at least 10% of their profits to effective charities.[26]

Professor Peter Singer has been a member of Giving What We Can since its foundation.

Since its inception in 2009 the Giving What We Can Pledge was signed by various prominent individuals, mostly academics:[29]

• A. J. Jacobs – American journalist, author, and lecturer best known for writing about his lifestyle experiments
• Adam Swift – professor of political theory at University College London
• Alan Fenwick – professor of tropical parasitology at the Imperial College London, Founder of the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI)[30]
• Amelia Gray – American writer
• Aviva Baumann – American actress
• Ben Delo – British mathematician, computer programmer, and entrepreneur, co-founder of BitMEX
• Ben Lester – British recording artist and multi-instrumentalist
• Bruce Friedrich – executive director of The Good Food Institute, a non-profit that received donation funding from Y Combinator
• Clare Gallagher – American ultrarunner
• Derek Parfit – senior research fellow at the University of Oxford, visiting professor of philosophy at Harvard University, New York University, and Rutgers University
• Derek Thompson – American journalist and staff writer at The Atlantic
• Diana Fleischman – American evolutionary psychologist and senior lecturer at University of Portsmouth
• Dustin Moskovitz – American entrepreneur who co-founded Facebook, Inc. and Asana, and philanthropist who co-founded Open Philanthropy[31]
• Dylan Matthews – American journalist, correspondent for Vox
• Ellie Chowns – housing and communities spokesperson for the Green Party of England and Wales
• Eva Vivalt – Canadian economist, assistant professor of economics at the University of Toronto and the founder of research institute AidGrade
• Janet Radcliffe Richards – professor of practical philosophy at the University of Oxford[32]
• John Bohannon – American science journalist and scientist who is director of science at Primer, an artificial intelligence company
• Jonathan Blow – American video game designer, programmer and Twitch streamer
• José González – Swedish indie folk singer-songwriter and guitarist
• Kelsey Piper – American journalist and staff writer at Vox
• Ken Baumann – American actor, writer, publisher and book designer
• Leah Price – American literary critic
• Liv Boeree – television presenter and former professional poker player
• Marcus Daniell – Olympic tennis player from New Zealand with 5 ATP titles[33][34] and founder of the organization High Impact Athletes
• Michael Greger – American physician, author, and professional speaker on public health issues and advocate for plant-based diets
• Michael Kremer – holder of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, professor in economics and public policy at the University of Chicago
• Nir Eyal – professor of bioethics and director of the Center for Population–Level Bioethics at Rutgers University[35]
• Peter Eckersley – Australian computer scientist, computer security researcher and activist[36]
• Peter Singer – professor of bioethics at Princeton University, and laureate professor at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne
• Pilvi Takala – Finnish award-winning performance artist
• Rachel Glennerster – chief economist at the Department for International Development (DFID)
• Romesh Ranganathan – English actor, comedian and presenter
• Rutger Bregman – Dutch popular historian and author of four books on history, philosophy, and economics, including Utopia for Realists
• Sam Bankman-Fried – co-founder of crypto-companies FTX and Alameda Research[37]
• Sam Harris – American author, philosopher, neuroscientist, podcast host, and prominent atheist
• Thomas Pogge – Leitner Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs at Yale University, director of the Global Justice Program
• Toby Ord – senior research fellow at the University of Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute
• William MacAskill – associate professor in philosophy at the University of Oxford