How to Be Great at Doing Good: Why Results Are What Count and How Smart Charity Can Change the World - Hardcover

by Nick Cooney (Author)

Get ready to question everything you've been told about charity, and to find out how you can truly succeed at making the world a better place.

Many of us donate to charitable causes, and millions more work or volunteer for non-profit organizations. Yet virtually none of us have been taught what it means to succeed at doing good, let alone how to do so. In short, we've never been encouraged to treat charity with the seriousness and rigor it deserves.

How to be Great at Doing Good is a complacency-shattering guidebook for anyone who wants to actually change the world, whether as a donor, a volunteer, or a non-profit staffer. Drawing on eye-opening studies in psychology and human behavior, surprising interviews with philanthropy professionals, and the author's fifteen years of experience founding and managing top-rated non-profits, this book is an essential read for anyone who wants to do more good with their time and money.

• Find out how Bill Gates and a team of MIT grads are saving thousands of lives by applying business principles to charity work - and how we can too
• Peer inside our brains as we donate, and discover how the same chemical forces that make us crave junk food and sex can steer us toward bad charity decisions
• See why following our passion and doing what we're good at can actually doom our efforts to improve the world
• Learn how two seemingly identical charities can have jaw-dropping differences in impact, and find out how to pick the best one when donating

Sure to generate controversy among non-profits and philanthropists who prefer business as usual, How to be Great at Doing Good reveals that a more calculated, effective approach to charity work isn't just possible - it's absolutely necessary for those who want to succeed at changing the world.

Front Jacket

PRAISE FOR HOW TO BE GREAT AT DOING GOOD

"Brendan Kennelly wrote, 'If you want to serve your age, betray it.' But what does it mean to betray your age? It means expose its lies, humiliate its conceits, debunk its arrogance, and question its certainties. Nick Cooney does this exquisitely. I would like his book to be in every school library and private bookshelf. But most importantly, I would like his words to be inscribed on the hearts of everyone who looks at the face in the mirror each morning and resolves to do all they can to make life better for the powerless. I am full of admiration for this young man."
--Philip Wollen, retired vice-president, Citibank and founder of the Winsome Constance Kindness Trust

"Too often, charity makes us feel good but fails to do good. This timely, thoughtful book shows how our contributions can make a bigger difference."
--Adam Grant, Wharton professor and New York Times bestselling author of Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success

"Nick Cooney is great at explaining How to Be Great at Doing Good and I hope his book will be widely read. Even more important, though, is that its key ideas should be widely practiced. Then the results will be great too--and Cooney and I agree that is what matters most."
--Peter Singer, Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, author of The Most Good You Can Do, and one of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people

"Doing good is something we could all get better at. This book is the blueprint. Nick Cooney uses the same tools we use at OkCupid--math, logic, and analysis--but to an end that could benefit us all. If you're serious about making the world a better place, start here."
--Christian Rudder, co-founder of OKCupid, and author of Dataclysm: Who We Are When We Think No One's Looking

"Impeccably written and extremely insightful. With eloquence and expressiveness, Cooney gives us a practical guide to examining our charitable efforts, measuring their efficiency, and maximizing their and our impact. If you've ever felt you could do more to make the world a better place, this book is for you."
--Shushana Castle, securities specialist, Sovereign Investments, and former board member of the Clinton Climate Initiative

Back Jacket

Get ready to question everything you've been told about charity, and to find out how you can truly succeed at making the world a better place.

Many of us donate to charitable causes, and millions more work or volunteer for non-profit organizations. Yet virtually none of us have been taught what it means to succeed at doing good, let alone how to do so. In short, we've never been encouraged to treat charity with the seriousness and rigor it deserves.

How to Be Great at Doing Good is a complacency-shattering guidebook for any-one who wants to actually change the world, whether as a donor, a volunteer, or a non-profit staffer. Drawing on eye-opening studies in psychology and human behavior, surprising interviews with philanthropy professionals, and the author's fifteen years of experience founding and managing top-rated non-profits, this book is an essential read for anyone who wants to do more good with their time and money.

• Find out how Bill Gates and a team of MIT grads are saving thousands of lives by applying business principles to charity work--and how we can too
• Peer inside our brains as we donate, and discover how the same chemical forces that make us crave junk food and sex can steer us toward bad charity decisions
• See why standard charity advice--like the encouragement to follow our passion or to do what we're good at--can actually doom our efforts to make the world a better place
• Learn how two seemingly identical charities can have jaw-dropping differences in impact, and find out how to pick the best one when donating

Although it may feel counterintuitive or even cold-hearted to take a numbers-based approach to charity, Cooney reveals that making calculated decisions isn't just possible, it's absolutely necessary if we want to succeed at helping others. Sure to generate controversy among non-profits and philanthropists who prefer business as usual, How to Be Great at Doing Good is a must-have guide for those who want to be aware of their own blind spots and overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of creating a better world.

Author Biography

NICK COONEY is director of education at Mercy For Animals and founder of The Humane League. He is also the author of Change of Heart: What Psychology Can Teach Us About Spreading Social Change. He has lectured extensively across the United States and Europe on how to carry out charity effectively, and his work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets.