Summary

EAs in the survey reported total donations of $16.1M USD in 2018.
The median annual donation in 2018 was $683.92.
The median annual donation in 2018, excluding those who joined EA in 2019 was $990. This is higher than the median annual donation in 2017 of $832, excluding those who joined EA in 2018.
1.3% of donors accounted for 57% of donations.
The median percentage of income donated in 2018 was 3.23%.
20% of EAs donated 10% or more of their income.
The median percent of income donated by full-time employed non-student EAs who earn more than $10,000 was 3.38% and 24% of these EAs donated 10% or more of their income.
Global Poverty charities continue to attract the largest amount of donations (39% of those who reported donations to specific charities).

This post is part of Rethink Charity's series on the EA Survey 2019, which provides an annual snapshot of the EA community. In this report, we explore donation information provided by EAs in the survey. We have already explored demographics, cause prioritization, careers and skills, and their geographic distribution.

Introduction

Earlier in this series we have shown that the most popular career paths that effective altruists in the survey (EAs) plan to follow are in earning to give roles (38%) and 55% (960) said one of the top ways in which they are interested in becoming more involved in the EA community was to give more.^[1] While there has been discussion in recent years about whether earning to give should be the default strategy for most EAs or if only a small proportion of people should earn to give long term (also see discussions here and here), there is a general consensus that donating at least some amount is a good path to impact for most EAs.

Totals Donated

As in previous years, there was a very wide range in amounts donated (note the 2019 Survey collects reports of the amounts donated in 2018). All amounts are in USD ($).^[2]

While total donations made in 2018 are down compared to donations reported for 2017 in the 2018 EA Survey Data, likely due to a smaller sample,^[3] it is still a huge step up from what EAs reported having previously donated in 2016 and 2015 in 2017´s survey.

Excluding EAs who joined EA in 2019, the median total donated in 2018 was $990. In 2018´s EA Survey, dropping those who joined EA in 2018 the median annual donation for 2017 was $832.2. Therefore, it may be more accur...

EA Survey 2019 Series