[toc]Raising for Effective Giving (REG) has published its annual report documenting 2015 finances, revealing that the foundation donated $597,820 for good causes in 2015. The charity’s expenses were $75,242 over the same period.
REG, co-founded by English poker professional Liv Boeree and philosopher Adriano Mannino in 2014, now has 87 members who have pledged to donate at least 2 percent of their income. The 2015 report marks a significant increase from the $400,000 donated in 2014.
Charity officials were said to be pleased with the results, having focused their efforts on long-term donation volume and moving into non-poker industries.
REG charitable causes breakdown
REG donates to a variety of causes, including combatting poverty and helping animal advocacy.
Over a quarter of the donations, a total of $179,296, went to charities that aimed at alleviating suffering resulting from poverty. The largest recipient of REG’s funds was the Against Malaria Foundation, which received a little over $100,000. This money will protect almost 70,000 people from malaria over the next four years.
A total of $61,166 went to charities working on the reduction of animal suffering. The largest portion of REG’s funds, over 40 percent in total, was donated to the Machine Intelligence Research Institute. This institute aims to ensure that emerging technologies and artificial intelligence does not negatively impact lives.
About REG
REG was co-founded in 2014 by online poker professional and member of Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree. Currently, the board consists of several successful poker players including Igor Kurganov and Phillip Gruissem.
REG believes that the best way to reduce suffering in the developing world is to donate to effective charities. REG’s chosen recipients for donations are based largely on their cost-effectiveness, for example how much it costs the charity to save a life. REG donates via the Effective Altruism Foundation.
Originally founded by and focused on professional poker players, REG now consists of 87 members from various gaming industries. In 2015, REG began strategic relationships with King’s Casino and betting exchange Matchbook.com.
REG encourages supporters to list their donations publicly, as studies show that people are more generous when giving in common with their peers and seek to establish a “culture of giving.”
What is effective giving?
REG and the Effective Altruism Foundation seek to donate to charities and charitable causes that have a high cost-effectiveness and commitment, seeking to have the most impact for the donation for the longest period of time.
As opposed to choosing charities for the usual, emotional reasons (for example, fighting a disease a parent died of), effective giving seeks to have the greatest impact on the world as a whole for every dollar donated.
Effective giving adopts a neutral approach to charitable donations, instead of focusing solely on one specific cause (education, poverty, cancer, etc.). While turning down certain causes in favor of others may be seen as cold, REG recognises that no matter which cause is chosen, lots of others will not be.
REG’s favorite charities
REG focuses on poverty alleviation, animal welfare, climate change and movement building. Their preferred poverty alleviation charities are as follows:
- Against Malaria Foundation: Malaria kills over a million people each year. AMF distributes treated bed nets to protect families from mosquitoes.
- GiveDirectly: GD transfers money directly to the extreme poor in Kenya and Uganda, which means they can spend it on what they need. This is shown to be more effective than donating to causes in the region.
- New Incentives: NI provides poor women with HIV or at-risk pregnancies in rural Africa with cash transfers to use at health clinics and for medications.
