Doing Good Better

Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Make a Difference is a 2015 book by William MacAskill that serves as a primer on the effective altruism movement that seeks to do the most good. It is published by Random House and was released on July 28, 2015.

Reviews of the book were generally positive. Writing for Marginal Revolution, George Mason University economics professor Alex Tabarrok described the book as "that rare beast, a hard-headed, soft-hearted proponent of saving the world." He concluded his review by writing: "Fortunately, effective altruism doesn’t require Mother Theresa-like levels of altruism or Spock-like level of hard-headedness. What is needed is a cultural change so that people become proud of how they give and not just how much they give. Imagine, for example, that it becomes routine to ask “How does Givewell rate your charity?” Or, “GiveDirectly gives poor people cash–can you demonstrate that your charity is more effective than cash?” The goal is not the questioning. The goal is to give people the warm glow when they can answer."

A review in Kirkus Reviews concluded: "There are thousands of charities in the world, most of which are attempting to do good for people. The author shows readers how to take any of these charities and assess them against his structure so they can make informed decisions on their charitable contributions. Highly useful guidelines to finding the perfect charity worthy of your money."

The Sunday Times called the book a "surprising and counterintuitive look at the best ways to make a difference." Marc Gunther reviewed the book for Nonprofit Chronicles, writing "There's no better time to start now" on the agenda that MacAskill had set out in the book.

Sue Desmond-Hellmann, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, reviewed the book favorably, concluding: "Getting in the habit of giving back is never a bad thing. While good intentions might not be enough in their own right, a world full of people who care — and who are open to doing good better — can make a world of difference."

Steven Levitt, University of Chicago economist and author of Freakonomics, said of the book: "Beautifully written and extremely smart. Doing Good Better should be required reading for anyone interested in making the world better." The book's website also quotes favorable blurbs from bioethicist and effective altruism proponent Peter Singer, Skype and Kazaa co-founder Jaan Tallinn, Center for Applied Rationality president and co-founder Julia Galef, business school professor Adam Grant, anti-aging researcher Aubrey de Grey, nanotechnology pioneer Eric Drexler, astronomer Martin Rees, and linguist and researcher Steven Pinker.

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