April 23, 2015
Four Penn students made a pledge Monday to give 10 percent of their future income to charity for the rest of their lives.
The pledge was part of their decision to join Giving What We Can (GWWC), a national organization whose 1,000 members have all made the pledge in an effort to end poverty, The Daily Pennsylvanian reports.
Penn's GWWC chapter was started last year by Rossa O'Keeffe-O'Donovan, who is pursuing his master’s degree in development economics at Penn.
Although members are encouraged to donate to the charities GWWC deems effective, ultimately each member donates to the organizations according to individual preference. Members can also elect to donate their income to the GWWC Donor-Advised Fund, which splits equally between the recommended charities.
Sophomore Mark Toubman was among those to make the 10 percent pledge.
“What I’ve come to realize is that money doesn’t always equate with happiness," he told The Daily Pennsylvanian. "Donating to charity is something that I want to incorporate into my life, and this gives me a concrete, tangible way to do that. If only everyone gave 10 percent of their income to charity, the world would be a significantly better place”
Another student charity group, One for the World (OFTW), was founded last year for MBA students at Wharton. OFTW asks Wharton MBAs to pledge 1 percent of their future earnings to organizations that serve the world’s poor. The group is expanding to Harvard Business School, Penn Law and the undergraduate community at Penn.
Read more from The Daily Pennsylvanian.
