Impact: Now and in the Future

3 Minute Read

Dear Video Chat Magic Supporter,

As the project comes to a close, we (Steve and Will) wanted to send you a final e-mail, containing by far the most valuable information we have to share.

Thanks to your generous support, Video Chat Magic has raised a whopping…

Not a bad way to spend lockdown. We are confident that this money, donated with precision through www.GiveWell.org, will do at least the equivalent of the following:

At least 3,500 children in Sub-Saharan Africa will receive 22,000 months of additional schooling. They will be protected from chronically sick stomachs and, within a few years their consumption, (i.e. the amount they spend, eat, and enjoy) will increase by an average of 12%. This increase will be maintained for their entire adult lives. That’s 3,500 parents putting extra meals on the table every week for a generation!

We never expected to generate such impact. We feel pretty good about it, and we hope you do too. You should. Perhaps it will inspire you to do even more...

The astonishing thing, to us, is just how much can be achieved when we donate according to the available data. This works for two reasons.

If you have an income of $60,000 per year, then globally speaking, believe it or not, you are in the top few percent. We – you, I, us – we are the rich. Yes, there are the Bezos of the world, and huge reform is needed there, but there is still a lot you can do. Being ‘rich,’ in this sense, is a privilege and puts us in a powerful position. For many of us, lucky enough to be living in economically developed regions, even a significant reduction in income wouldn’t really change our lives in any identifiable way. We might buy fewer gadgets or designer clothes, but our lives, our relationships, our joy, would not be diminished.

Contrast this with what that money could mean to those at the other end of the donation chain, the recipients, the extremely poor. Nearly 1 in 10 people alive today live below the poverty line, on less per day than what $2 could buy you in a city like Lisbon, London or Los Angeles. This is truly shocking. But given that they live on so little, the opportunity for us to help is enormous.

If you give a donation to some of the poorest people in the world, your money is estimated to go 100 times further than it would if you spent it on yourself. It is literally the case that you can forgo a Starbucks coffee and muffin and instead use the money to inoculate a child against a host of diseases. You can choose between a fleeting tasty treat and a child running around and healthy thanks to your actions.

Obviously, this is just a drop in the ocean, but that’s all an ocean is... millions and millions of drops, collected together. Over the last few months, Video Chat Magic has been collecting those drops from you and using them to help thousands, in a meaningful way. Now, if you want, you can continue to make a real difference.

Please read Doing Good Better, or watch this, and then get in touch with Steve for a chat or visit www.GiveWell.org and show your support.

We sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed Video Chat Magic and that you continue to explore and experiment with the content. We also hope that you will continue to explore and experiment with effective giving.

Steve and Will

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A Reminder

On October 31 we will stop taking payments and accepting new subscribers to Video Chat Magic. As long as your subscription is current at that time the entire collection will remain accessible to you throughout November, so you have plenty of time to read it all, and then we’ll have a big announcement…