I first learned about the 10% pledge in 2020 when a coworker posted about taking it on social media. His decision stuck with me—simple, concrete, and quietly inspiring. I took the 10% pledge shortly after. A few years later, I’ve been fortunate to co-found Twin Cities 10% with some friends, a local group dedicated to encouraging more people to donate more, more effectively. It’s essentially a community-based version of Giving What We Can here in Minneapolis–St. Paul.
So why do I pledge to donate 10% of my pre-tax income?
If my boss asked me to take a 10% pay cut to save two lives every year, I wouldn’t hesitate. If a child were drowning in a pond right in front of me, and all it took to save them was ruining my very expensive suit, I wouldn’t think twice. So why should it matter that the lives I can save aren’t nearby or personally known to me?
Knowing that the median global income is only about $4,000 after tax, giving up 10% of my salary feels like the least I can do. And since it costs roughly $5,000 to save a statistical life, committing to donate at least 10% of my income for life is one of the clearest, most meaningful decisions I’ve ever made.
Over the past five years, I’ve directed my pledge donations roughly 80% toward global health and wellbeing and 20% toward animal welfare. I rely heavily on guidance from GiveWell, The Life You Can Save, and Giving What We Can to help me make thoughtful, evidence-based giving choices. I’ve automated my monthly donations, which removes the friction of deciding each month and makes the pledge far easier to sustain. And each December, when I total everything to make sure I’ve met my 10% pre-tax commitment, it’s easy to get lost in the spreadsheets and numbers. But I always try to remember a Peter Singer line that centers me: “If it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought, morally, to do it”. It reminds me why I give, and why the pledge continues to matter.
