Philosophers Against Malaria: A Fundraising Competition

Philosophers, it’s time to do some good…

Once again, Malte Hendrickx, a philosophy graduate student at the University of Michigan, has set up a charity “competition” for philosophy departments to raise money for the Against Malaria Foundation. Which departments will rise to the occasion?

Here are the details from Mr. Hendrickx:

What good can philosophers do?

If the past is a good guide, quite a lot! Every year, philosophy departments around the world enter a friendly ‘competition’ to raise money for bednets that protect people from Malaria.

Malaria kills more than a thousand children each day. These deaths are as unnecessary as they are tragic. So, every year during the festive season, philosophers put ethical quarrels, exotic thought experiments, and devastating objections aside for a minute to pitch in for those less fortunate than them.

You can access the fundraising competition page here. 

If your department isn’t listed yet, you can add it by filling out the form here, entering your department’s name in the box marked “your event name/page title.”

Sharing the fundraiser via social media, mailing lists, or other means is highly encouraged!

All donations are tax-deductible, and 100% of donations go to the purchase of long-lasting insecticidal bed nets. Long-lasting insecticidal nets cost around $2 and provide effective protection to the households that receive them.

The Against Malaria Foundation (AMF) has an excellent track record in distributing such bed nets. In the last 19 years, the 250 million nets they funded and distributed protected 450 million people. It is estimated that this translates to roughly 185,000 deaths prevented, and 100 to 185 million cases of malaria averted. It is also estimated to have led to an improvement of US$6.5 billion in local economies since malaria is a crucial factor in reducing the productivity of those it affects. AMF has been rated as a top charity by GiveWell, a charity evaluator, each year since 2009.

 Previous editions of this heated competition had Oxford (2022) and Michigan (2023) be declared winners—along with 17,600 recipients of malaria nets.

The results of the charity competition will be announced later this month. Good luck!