Cambridge Business Association
Doing Good Better
Book

Doing Good Better

How Effective Altruism Can Help You Make a Difference

William MacAskill
Gotham Books, 2015
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable

Recommendation

With so many people needing help and thousands of worthy causes vying for your donations, how do you decide where to invest your time, energy and money? William MacAskill, the co-founder of the nonprofit organizations Giving What We Can and 80,000 Hours, offers a framework of scientific reasoning to address this problem. His approach to “effective altruism” includes asking, “How can I make a substantial positive impact?” and he uses hard evidence and thoughtful analysis to find the answer. getAbstract recommends MacAskill’s practical approach to leaders of charities, to those responsible for corporate giving and to anyone who wants to “do good better.”

Summary

“Effective Altruism”

In 1989, the PlayPump, an invention of water engineer Ronnie Stuive, amazed and impressed South African Trevor Field. At the time, women in rural South Africa walked miles to wind-powered pumps and waited hours for water for their families. The PlayPump offered a better way: Children rode a merry-go-round, which pumped water into a storage tank.

Field developed the project, installing 50 pumps across South Africa by the year 2000. He won a prestigious award and attracted funding and positive media attention. By 2006, celebrities, CEOs and politicians flocked to support the PlayPump project, including AOL head Steve Case, US first lady Laura Bush and rap star Jay-Z. By 2009, 1,800 PlayPumps operated in South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia. Then it all spun out of control.

Two reports noted the faults and failures of the PlayPump project. It transpired that children quickly grew tired on the merry-go-round or fell off and hurt themselves. Women preferred the cheaper and easier-to-operate Zimbabwe Bush Pump, which drew five times as much water as the PlayPump. PlayPumps broke down frequently and were difficult to repair. ...

About the Author

William MacAskill is a co-founder of the effective altruism movement. He also co-founded two nonprofit organizations – Giving What We Can and 80,000 Hours. MacAskill is an associate professor of philosophy at Lincoln College, Oxford University.

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