51. Luke Freeman - Effective Altruism

Aussie Firebug

Have you ever wondered how far your donations to charities really go? I know it feels good to donate and we should all consider giving away part of our wealth considering we Aussies are some of the wealthiest people on the planet, but I’m not sure many of us really go over with a fine-tooth and comb how the money is spent and how many people are affected with every dollar.

Today I’m speaking with Luke Freeman, a former tech and marketing professional who had a desire to positively affect the lives of the less fortunate in the world. Luke is the Chairperson and a Board Member of Effective Altruism Australia and Executive Director of Giving What We Can, which are both charitable organisations designed to help the less fortunate.

The attributes of effective altruism share a lot of similarities with the FIRE movement. It’s all about using evidence and reason to figure out how to benefit others as much as possible, and taking action on that basis.

Some of the topics we discuss in this episode:

• Who is Luke Freeman and how did he become interested in giving back to others? (03:05)
• What is Effective Altruism Australia (EAA) and how did it start? (07:33)
• Is EAA a not-for-profit organisation and how does it actually work? (10:04)
• What are the tax advantages of donating through EAA? (14:58)
• What metrics does EAA use when assessing how effective time and money are used in charitable organisations? (16:39)
• Is corruption in charitable organisations a real issue or is it overblown by the critics? (22:56)
• What are some of the biggest problems in the world that EAA is targeting? (27:25)

Links

• Website - Effective Altruism Australia
• Website - Giving What We Can
• LinkedIn post - Eating Less Than $2 / Day

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