Doing Good Better audiobook cover - A Radical New Way to Make a Difference

Doing Good Better

A Radical New Way to Make a Difference

William MacAskill

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EconomicsMotivation & Inspiration

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Doing Good Better
Maximizing Impact+
Where to Give+
Assessing True Value+
High-Impact Careers+
Evaluating Charities+
Unintended Consequences+
Actionable Advice+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 7
According to the book, how should a donor calculate the 'expected value' of a charitable action?
  • A. By multiplying the outcome's value by its probability of success.
  • B. By dividing the total donations by the number of people helped.
  • C. By comparing the charity's overhead costs to its program expenses.
  • D. By subtracting the administrative costs from the total funds raised.
Question 2 of 7
Why does the author argue against donating to highly publicized disaster relief funds?
  • A. Disaster relief organizations typically have the highest administrative overhead.
  • B. Disasters are unpredictable, making it impossible to calculate expected value.
  • C. These causes are often overfunded, meaning new donations suffer from the law of diminishing returns.
  • D. Disaster relief funds rarely reach the affected areas due to political corruption.
Question 3 of 7
What does the concept of 'assessing the counterfactual' refer to when evaluating your charitable impact?
  • A. Comparing a charity's financial records against industry standards.
  • B. Asking what would have happened if you had not intervened or taken a specific action.
  • C. Calculating the exact monetary value of an hour of volunteer work.
  • D. Ensuring that a charity's stated goals align with its actual operations.
Question 4 of 7
According to the principle of 'earning to give,' why might becoming a highly paid stockbroker be a better ethical choice than working directly for an NGO?
  • A. Stockbrokers typically have more free time to volunteer on weekends.
  • B. NGO work usually requires specialized skills that most people cannot learn.
  • C. The corporate sector is significantly more efficient at solving social problems than the non-profit sector.
  • D. A lucrative career allows you to donate large sums of money, while someone else will still fill the NGO role anyway.
Question 5 of 7
Why does the author believe that assessing charities based primarily on their overhead costs (like Charity Navigator does) is misleading?
  • A. Overhead costs do not reflect the actual real-world impact and effectiveness of a charity's programs.
  • B. Most charities illegally hide their true overhead costs through accounting loopholes.
  • C. High executive salaries are necessary to attract people who are passionate about the cause.
  • D. Overhead costs are usually funded by government grants rather than individual donations.
Question 6 of 7
What counterintuitive argument does the book make regarding sweatshops in developing countries?
  • A. Sweatshops strictly adhere to Fairtrade standards to avoid international boycotts.
  • B. Sweatshop jobs are often preferable to the even lower-paid, backbreaking agricultural work available in those regions.
  • C. Sweatshops generate massive profits that are exclusively used to build local infrastructure.
  • D. Factory work in developing countries provides better healthcare benefits than most Western jobs.
Question 7 of 7
When choosing a career to maximize your positive impact, why does the author recommend seeking 'personal fit' over 'following your passion'?
  • A. Passionate people are usually rejected by corporate employers who prefer emotionally detached workers.
  • B. Passion-driven careers often have low overhead costs, making them inefficient for charitable giving.
  • C. Passions change over time, and passion-driven fields like sports or music are highly competitive and rarely offer a steady income.
  • D. Personal fit guarantees that you will be promoted to an executive level within a non-profit organization.

Doing Good Better — Full Chapter Overview

Doing Good Better Summary & Overview

Doing Good Better (2015) is a guide to making the largest positive impact possible through charitable donations. In examining many of the popular misconceptions about effective giving, this book gives you all the tools you need to truly make a difference.

Who Should Listen to Doing Good Better?

  • Charity donors who would like to know how to give more effectively
  • Potential donors confused about where to begin
  • Anyone trying to figure out the career path that will make the biggest difference

About the Author: William MacAskill

William MacAskill is an associate professor in Philosophy at the University of Oxford as well as the co-founder of the charities Giving What We Can and 80,000. His organizations have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, on NPR, TED and numerous other media outlets.

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