Doing Good Better: Effective Altruism and a Radical New Way to Make a Difference - Softcover

Beautifully written and extremely smart. Doing Good Better should be required reading for anyone interested in making the world better. (Steven D. Levitt, author of Freakonomics)

A data nerd after my own heart. (Bill Gates)

Effective altruism - efforts that actually help people rather than making you feel good or helping you show off - is one of the great new ideas of the 21st century. Doing Good Better is the definitive guide to this exciting new movement. (Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of The Better Angels of Our Nature.)

We research hotels and headphones and sushi bars-but not charities. That is lunacy. And in this powerful and persuasive book, William MacAskill shows us how much we stand to gain from a little bit of thoughtfulness: The same donation could do hundreds of times more good if given to the most effective charities, rather than the least. If you care about the impact of the time or money you contribute to good causes, this book is a must-read. (Dan Heath, co-author of the New York Times bestsellers Made to Stick, Switch, and Decisive)

A surprising and often counterintuitive look at the best ways to make a difference.. [MacAskill] is that rarest of beasts: a do-gooder who uses his head more than his heart. (Sunday Times)

Explains how good intentions can lead to bad outcomes, but also shows how to spend and give away our money more effectively by thinking rationally rather than being swayed emotionally. (Alice Thomson The Times)

Brilliant... a manual that bounces along, full of counterintuitive insight. I've already changed the charities I donate to as a result of MacAskill's advice, and if you read the book, I expect you will too... The author has fire in his belly and an urgent desire to make the world a better place. His plea is simply to follow the evidence - and as a result, not to waste a minute or a dollar more. (Guardian, BOOK OF THE WEEK)

Groundbreaking ... a brilliant, smart and refreshing take on the best way to make a difference in the world, MacAskill's wonderfully written vision will strike a chord with anyone who has ever wanted to help a cause. (The Herald)

[Satisfyingly counterintuitive]...a feel-good guide to getting good done (Amia Srinivasan London Review of Books)

Almost all of us want to make a difference. So we volunteer, donate to charity, recycle or try to cut down our carbon emissions. But rarely do we know how much of a difference we're really making. In a remarkable re-examination of the evidence, Doing Good Better reveals why buying sweatshop-produced goods benefits the poor; why cosmetic surgeons can do more good than charity workers; and why giving to a relief fund is generally not the best way to help after a natural disaster. By examining the charities you give to, the volunteering you do, the goods you buy and the career you pursue, this fascinating and often surprising guide shows how through simple actions you can improve thousands of lives - including your own.