The team’s thoughts on giving at the end of 2024
Alex’s thoughts
I believe donating is one of the most effective and impactful things Christians can do to advance God's Kingdom. Generosity not only blesses others but also aligns us with an eternal perspective, as Jesus reminds us in Matthew 6:19-21: to store treasures in heaven, not on earth. Knowing nothing I "own" is truly mine, I trust God can do far more with the money I give back to Him. I heard a pastor once say, "No one becomes poor from being too generous"—and I’ve found this to be true. God has always provided, blessing me abundantly as I remain faithful in giving. If you’re unsure about starting, my advice is simple: start small. Even £10/month can create incredible change in the right hands.
Some of my standout donation opportunities this year include 500k, which supports local missionaries planting churches in unreached Indian villages (£60/month supports a missionary making hundreds of disciples), FarmKind, which funds effective animal welfare initiatives, and StrongMinds and Vida Plena, which address mental health in underserved areas. Through giving to each of these I try to stay focused on Matthew 6:33: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” Trust God with your generosity, and He will take care of the rest.
Asia’s thoughts
My primary motivation to give is rooted in Jesus: both in His way of acting towards others and his explicit call to financial stewardship. In terms of verses that keep me going, 1 Peter 4:10 is always a precious reminder: Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. But I would also like to emphasise that it is other people I have interacted with in the EA for Christians community, that both encouraged me and inspired me to give. Observing my friends in EACH whom I respect and admire spend time figuring out where to give, to give most effectively, has positively challenged me on my giving this year!
My system for giving this year has been the Giving What We Can Trial Pledge.
For standout giving opportunities this year, there’s Giving What We Can’s summary list of best opportunities for 2024. You can also read people’s reflections on this on the EA forum.
My highlight for this year that motivated me most in terms of my giving was this blog post on tithing at Christ and Counterfactuals.
JD’s thoughts
This November, my precious son, Theodore, was born.
He was premature and at higher-risk. So, as new parents, my wife and I were especially grateful for the excellent medical care we received through our local hospital.
Today, Theo is thriving, but I’m reminded that children are not as fortunate. Today, thousands of babies and children – as precious to God and their parents as Theodore is to us – will die from some preventable disease.
By giving effectively, my wife and I can, with God’s help, save the lives of 3-5 babies just like Theo every year. Alternatively we could fund dozens of church planters to do a year of ministry in rural Asia, or free tens of thousands of chickens from crippling cages for their entire winged lives (We’ll probably do a blend of all of these!)
What a great way to embody Christ’s love, to obey his commands ( Luke 12:32-34, Matt 19:21), and serve Him (Matt 25:35-40)!
Vesa’s thoughts
The Bible says some really convicting things about giving like 1 John 3:17: “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” (NIV) We need prudence and spiritual guidance in putting these words into practice in our lives, but I think we should not try to water down the teachings of Christ and the Apostles even when they are challenging. Most of us will fall short of perfection but that shouldn’t stop us from trying. The other side of the coin is that we can do so much by giving! Many of us really have an unbelievable opportunity to help others.
I’ve been donating to the GiveWell’s top charities fund, some amount to ALLFED and some farmed animal welfare charities plus a smaller amount to impactful climate charity to offset my carbon footprint. In addition to these EA-style targets, I’ve given to some missions and people I have a personal connection with, though I count these somewhat separately.
My giving strategy has been quite conservative and I feel exploring different giving options more could be useful. I’m especially intrigued by the idea of donating to organisations like Giving What We Can that promote effective giving. If your donation enables an organisation to convince more people to donate to impactful charities, you could potentially have a much bigger impact than donating the same amount to these charities yourself. I should also think more about missions giving—I’m looking for impactful Orthodox missions in particular.
