Nick Beckstead, Mark Lee, and Tim Campbell may all be under 30 and earning just over $20,000 a year each, but the three graduate students in philosophy at Rutgers University at New Brunswick are living up to a career-long promise. For the past year, Mr. Beckstead and Mr. Lee have given away all of their income, other than their student stipends, to charity, as part of the Giving What We Can project (see related story). Mr. Campbell has donated 5 percent of his beyond-stipend earnings to a similar American organization, The Life You Can Save.
In December, the three students started a chapter of Giving What We Can and want to persuade others to follow in their footsteps.
Mr. Beckstead and Mr. Lee plan to give away half of their after-tax income when they enter the work force, and Mr. Campbell plans to give at least 10 percent.
Q. Why did you decide that now was a good time to start giving?
Nick Beckstead: There are a lot of young people who are interested in making a difference, but they often don’t know the best ways to do that. I’ve had this intention to give away a lot of my money for a long time. It is just sort of a psychological challenge of getting yourself to do it at first. I had a lot of support and thought now would be a good time to start pushing the idea.
Q. What was it about the charities sponsored by Giving What We Can that caught your eye, rather than donating to a charity of your choice?
Mr. Beckstead: Many people will give because they feel like they have a personal affiliation with a certain kind of cause. We have a different approach to giving. For example, the Stop TB Partnership can save lives in the developing world for around $400 to $500. People giving 10 percent of their income can easily save hundreds of lives throughout their careers if they give to the right places.
Tim Campbell: It’s not so much that these charities caught my eye, but just [that] Giving What We Can is really what caught my eye. They are not a charity, but they do research and rank different charities.
Q. Nick and Mark, the amount you are pledging to give away seems like quite a lot. Why have you decided to donate more than the recommended 10 percent each year?
Mark Lee: I’m planning to give away as much as I can. It’s not just going to be percents, but I thought that was a good figure for now.
Mr. Beckstead: The reason to give more is very much the same as the reason to give some. If you can afford it, you can save or improve many people’s lives. I understand that not everyone can do this, and I’m in a relatively good situation. But I feel I won’t miss the money, because the things that I enjoy most, like spending time with my family, friends, or my girlfriend, don’t cost a lot.
Q. What happens to your pledge if you’re facing a big financial commitment somewhere down the road, such as buying a house or sending your kids to college? Or what if you lose your job?
Mr. Campbell: In the way the pledge is made, there is some flexibility. You wouldn’t necessarily have to choose. You could make up or pay the difference later on.
Mr. Beckstead: If I lost my job, then I would just have to break the pledge that year and make it up later. But I think that’s pretty unlikely that will happen to me.
Q. A big part of the reason you’re taking on this pledge seems to be that you want to encourage others. Why is it important to give on a regular basis?
Mr. Beckstead: Each person who takes the pledge estimates their future earnings by looking at what job they’re going to have, what the average income is, and how many years they’ll work. Think about a single person who makes $60,000 a year and gives 10 percent of that, which is $6,000. If that person works for 40 years, then that’s $6,000 times 40.
Mr. Lee: That comes to $240,000 over a working career.
Q. With those kinds of numbers, how would that amount be able to promote substantial change?
Mr. Lee: If you look at what we could do today, we would save more than 44,000 lives. But there are also substantial side benefits. Treating hookworm increases the economic productivity of individuals, increases school attendance, and helps with population control, since individuals don’t feel like they have to have more children to support themselves long-term. We’re drawn by this compelling idea that we each can do vast amounts of good and still live the lives that we want.