The diffusion of responsibility problem means most of us don’t donate to worthy causes, because we don’t think it’ll make a difference. This will only change when we go against this perverse intuition.

These are the charities and non-profit organisations I donate money to, and encourage you to as well.

Contents

Health and research

Cure Cancer Australia

This organisation directly funds cancer researchers, and without resorting to employing clipboard pushers in public places to intimidate people into donations. It’s a personal issue for me, having lost several family members including my mum to the disease.

Global Development Group

This organisation directly funds cancer researchers, and without resorting to employing clipboard pushers in public places to intimidate people into donations. It’s a personal issue for me, having lost several family members including my mum to the disease.

Guide Dogs NSW

I only learned recently that most vision-impaired people can’t afford guide dogs, and the government chips in bugger all to help them out. Guide Dogs NSW provides guide dogs, mobility services, training, and orientation for those affected by impaired vision.

Software projects

FreeBSD Foundation

FreeBSD is my OS of choice for professional and personal use. I was lucky enough to meet Benedict Reuschling and the devs at AsiaBSDCon 2018; they’re wonderful people doing important work. The Foundation supports the community, sponsors development and events, and provides travel grants for those who can’t afford to attend events.

Open Source Technology Improvement Fund

It’s hard to overstate how critically important the technologies this fund supports are. OpenSSL is the backbone of the secure internet, OpenVPN is the de-facto small VPN standard, GnuPG secures email, and VeraCrypt is a viable, more secure disk encryption system, especially for Windows users

Websites

Internet Archive

This is one of the Internet’s greatest treasures. The Archive is a non-profit public digital library with content accessible to everyone. Their Wayback Machine stores snapshots of websites in time, many of which no longer exist. They’ve saved thousands of broken links on Wikipedia. And they’ve provided hosting for my podcast for more than a decade.

Wikimedia Foundation

When I think free access to the world’s knowledge, its Wikipedia and its related projects not a certain search engine. I’ve been a reader and contributor since at least 2004, and couldn’t imagine beginning any research without it.

Media

ElectroBOOM

Medhi has the best channel on YouTube; his videos are as hilarious as they are educational. I’ve learned more watching his electronics videos than anyone else, and want him to continue doing it full time now :).

SamHarris.org

The only antidote to bad ideas are good ideas and conversations. I’m sometimes at-odds with Sam’s guests, but they always make me think. His books on spirituality without religion, and how to apply critical thinking to meditation, have also both had a profound effect on me.

Well May We Say

An Australian political podcast by Jeremy Sear of Something Wonky fame. He’s a voice of compassion and reason in an Australian media landscape increasingly devoid of either.