Will You Help Me Reduce Suffering?

We live in a world where our actions can have a huge impact on the health, well-being, and even existence, of those who suffer. 
Help me help others.

In one sentence: If you donate to the highly ranked charity the Against Malaria Foundation, I will match your contribution, effectively doubling your donation. 

• What is malaria? Malaria is a debilitating and sometimes fatal disease. $4 buys one bed net. Each bed net will not only reduce a person's chance of catching malaria, but for every ~150 bed nets purchased, one life is saved!  You can donate now here.

For those seeking more details, the following text elaborates why I am doing this and explains how I will double your donation to save even more lives.

In short, suffering is bad, and reducing suffering is good.  That is my assertion, but I elaborate in this talk on why we should help people.

But how should we do it?

I think it makes sense to examine who suffers the most, which interventions actually work, and what is the largest impact for money spent. While I'm highly concerned with the suffering of others, I'm also very concerned about the evidence that donating to a charity or cause does any good.

Using this logic, I believe it makes the most sense to fight malaria by buying anti-malaria mosquito bed nets from the Against Malaria Foundation. 

Why Malaria? Because:   

• 1-3 million people die of malaria each year, most of them children.  
• 500,000,000 people become ill from malaria each year.  
• Malaria is the number one killer of pregnant women.  
• Malaria has huge economic costs for numerous countries.  
• More information here.

Why Mosquito Nets? 
Malaria is transmitted by certain mosquitoes when they bite. The mosquitoes typically bite between 10 o'clock at night and two in the morning, so if we can protect people in affected areas when they sleep at night we have a very good chance of preventing them from contracting malaria. A long-lasting insecticidal bed net is both a mechanical barrier against malaria-carrying mosquitoes that bite at night, and something that kills mosquitoes on contact. More information here.

Why the Against Malaria Foundation?

• 100% of the money goes to buy bed nets! (yes, administration costs are effectively zero due to partnering, and private donations cover the low salary costs).
  
• They are cost-effective and rigorous in their program execution. 
• They are transparent regarding their finances and distribution. 
• They are GiveWell's Number 1 Ranked Charity.  GiveWell is the most rigorous charity evaluator of which I know; they do extensive and comprehensive examinations of charities and end up rejecting 98% of them. GiveWell has lots of information on why Against Malaria Foundation has such a high ranking, as well as numerous articles detailing their process and why GiveWell supports some initiatives (health) over others (microfinance).
  
• The Against Malaria Foundation is also ranked as a top charity to donate to by the organizations Giving What We Can and Peter Singer's The Life You Can Save.

Given these top rankings by reputable organizations, I think it means that the Against Malaria Foundation is one of the best charities on Earth.

Further, the Against Malaria Foundation donations are Tax Deductable in Canada, the United States, UK and various other countries (check here). This means that, depending on your country/region, you might be able to deduct 20-50% of your donation from your taxes.

Okay, so what am I offering?

The Initiative:  I've read numerous books and articles on development and charities, and I'm sufficiently impressed by the Against Malaria Foundation (and GiveWell) that by the end of 2013, I am offering to match your donations up to a total maximum of $20,000 (Can).  If you donate $100, I will match it so the Against Malaria Foundation receives a total of $200.

To repeat, if you donate to the Against Malaria Foundation, I will match your contribution, effectively doubling your donation (up to a total maximum of $20,000 by December 31, 2013). That's enough for an additional 5000 bed nets!

The Process: You donate to the Against Malaria Foundation on a fundraising page I have set up on their website here.

Then, I prove that I have matched it on a this different fundraising page.  You can see I started the process off with a donation of $5000 as a gesture of goodwill and to prove my commitment.

I will monitor donations and increase my donations accordingly. Simple as that. 

Click here and Donate Now! 

Let’s save lives together!
Sincerely,
Darren McKee