How to Put the Charity Back in Charity

A few years back, famed Princeton philosopher Peter Singer had a student who, like many new graduates, wanted to change the world for the better.

The student, Matt Wage, decided that the best way for him to do that wouldn’t be to join the Peace Corps or take a low-paying job at a nonprofit. Instead, he decided to take a job on Wall Street and donate as much of his income as possible to charities he believed in.

“[He] figured that he could make a bigger difference by doing that than he could if he actually went to work for one of those organizations,” Singer said.

Wage is about four years out from graduation now. Each year, he has donated six-figure sums to charities—or about half of his income.