Professional Philanthropy

August 15th, 2012
ea, earning_to_give, terms
80,000 hours has started referring to the make money to donate approach as "professional philanthropy" [1]. I do like having a name for it, but I'm not sure this is a good one. Talking to people, many interpret it as "have a lot of money, treat giving it away as a full time job". It gives the impression that having a lot of money is a precondition for a "professional philanthropy" career.

Is there a better name that would indicate a strategy of "choose your job to maximize the expected value of your donations"?

(Searching for "professional philanthropy" I see other uses of the term, none of them to mean 'earn and give': strategic giving, unclear meaning (satire), institutional partnership, and volunteering professional skills. The only uses in 80,000 hours sense, outside of their own site seem to be on the socially related sites LessWrong and Felicifia.)


[1] Or occasionally "pro-phil", which I interpreted as "professional philosophy" for the longest time.

Update 2012-08-19: Discussion on a mailing list consensed on "earning to give". While it doesn't really have a noun form ("I'm an 'earn-to-giver'"?) it's short, self-explanatory, and doesn't appear to be being used for anything else.

Update 2013-02-26: "earning to give" now seems to be the term.

Referenced in:

Comment via: google plus, facebook, r/smartgiving, substack

Recent posts on blogs I like:

How to Make a Christmas Wreath

Yesterday, I made a Christmas wreath. Here's how to make one. First, find an evergreen tree near your house. Clip off a few branches from the tree. Try to have as many leaves or needles on the branches as possible. Next, bring them home. What I usu…

via Anna Wise's Blog Posts December 6, 2025

Live with Linch

A recording from Ozy Brennan and Linch's live video

via Thing of Things December 5, 2025

Against the Teapot Hold in Contra Dancing

The teapot hold is the most dangerous common contra dancing figure, so I’ve been avoiding it. The teapot hold, sometimes called a "courtesy turn hold,” requires one dancer to connect with their hand behind their back. When I realized I could avoid put…

via Emma Azelborn August 25, 2025

more     (via openring)