“Marginally More Effective Altruism” by AppliedDivinityStudies

<p> There's a huge amount of energy spent on how to get the most QALYs/$. And a good amount of energy spent on how to increase total $. And you might think that across those efforts, we are succeeding in maximizing total QALYs.</p><p> I think a third avenue is under investigated: marginally improving the effectiveness of ineffective capital. That's to say, improving outcomes, only somewhat, for the pool of money that is not at all EA-aligned.</p><p> This cash is not being spent optimally, and likely never will be. But the sheer volume could make up for the lack of efficacy.</p><p> Say you have the option to work for the foundation of one of two donors:</p><ul> <li> Donor A only has an annual giving budget of $100,000, but will do with that money whatever you suggest. If you say “bed nets” he says “how many”.</li><li> Donor B has a much larger [...]</li></ul> <p>---</p><p><strong>Outline:</strong></p><p>(01:34) Most money is not EA money</p><p>(04:32) How much money is there?</p><p>(05:49) Effective Everything?</p> <p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> September 8th, 2025 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/o5LBbv9bfNjKxFeHm/marginally-more-effective-altruism?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Source+URL+in+episode+description&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/o5LBbv9bfNjKxFeHm/marginally-more-effective-altruism</a> </p> <p>---</p> <p>Narrated by <a href="https://type3.audio/?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Narrated+by+TYPE+III+AUDIO&utm_term=ea_forum&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TYPE III AUDIO</a>.</p> <p>---</p><div style="max-width: 100%";><p><strong>Images from the article:</strong></p><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/o5LBbv9bfNjKxFeHm/isnkxbqfjymd37fkhawq" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/o5LBbv9bfNjKxFeHm/isnkxbqfjymd37fkhawq" alt="Graph showing "Impact per Dollar" comparing three charities with exponentially increasing impact levels." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><p><em>Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try <a href="https://pocketcasts.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Pocket Casts</a>, or another podcast app.</em></p></div>