EA Forum Podcast (Curated & popular)12 Jan

“Why I Donate: A Personal Story” by Stien

Thank you

At EAGx Amsterdam, I shared most of this as a talk. I was afraid I'd run out of time, so I decided to do things backwards and start with the thank you. I did not want to miss the most important thing. Since I might lose you halfway reading this long and personal piece, I decided to keep this order.

The EA community creates a space that makes it easier to donate and to live my values—and to be okay with living in this world. It normalizes caring about effectiveness and spreadsheets, provides frameworks and research and feedback. This community makes me feel less alone in trying to navigate the absurdity and burden of existence.

My Story, Not Yours

I am assuming that anything I do is determined by luck and circumstance, nature and nurture. Therefore, one way to explain why I donate is to show you some of those things. This is personal; my story might not be applicable or relatable to you. I’m not sure there's anything practical you can learn from it. But maybe my experience raises questions that help you in your giving journey.

First I’ll tell you about my life [...]

---

Outline:

(00:10) Thank you

(00:53) My Story, Not Yours

(01:39) My life

(08:01) I donate because it helps others

(08:17) It's my responsibility to do something

(09:23) I should do good responsibly

(10:20) I donate because it helps me

(10:30) Retail Therapy Donation Therapy Effective Giving

(12:39) Convenience of effective giving

(14:06) This is how I can live the lives I wont get to live

(15:16) How I Donate

---

First published:
December 31st, 2026

Source:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/bRMQB85KXz6uzqXkf/why-i-donate-a-personal-story

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

---

Images from the article:

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(250)

“Let’s taboo the V-word” by lincolnq

“How long have you been v*g*n?” This is one of the most common icebreakers at animal protection events. It's a baseline assumption, and it mostly holds true: if you’re out advocating for animals not t...

14 Jul 12min

“Giving What We Can’s first YouTube Video is out now!” by JustinPortela

Hello! I'm Justin Portela. I got hired by GWWC to make YouTube videos after AI in Context did such a kickass job. My channel is using that same cinematic, high-production value beauty to talk about e...

9 Jul 1min

“I’m never satisfied” by Ajeya

Note: This post was crossposted from Planned Obsolescence by the Forum team, with the author's permission. The author may not see or respond to comments on this post. But we get the job done I was twe...

8 Jul 6min

“Maybe do the thing you wish CEA would do” by alejoacelas 🔸

I used AI to fix transcription errors, rerrarange the ideas, and suggest tweaks to the title and some sentences. Three of the most exciting projects to come out of EA in recent years are, in a vague s...

8 Jul 4min

“Mabye do the thing you wish CEA would do” by AlejoAcelas🔸

8 Jul 4min

“Possible mistake EAs are making and shout out to Pause AI UK” by Michelle_Hutchinson

I think right now EAs might be making a significant mistake by paying insufficient attention to the political realm. As EAs we tend to figure out what's most impactful for us to work on and focus hard...

29 Jun 6min

“Coming Around To Political Donations” by Jeff Kaufman 🔸

Five years ago I read a post on the EA Forum arguing that "election campaign contributions might be a way in which you can have a substantial impact as a small donor". It struck me as weird but plausi...

12 Jun 4min

“animal welfare has an evidence problem” by matthes

Why I stopped donating to animal welfare charities but feel more motivated than ever to redirect money and talent to the cause. I have wanted to write this post for a while. It is an uncomfortable thi...

6 Jun 26min