Many individuals dedicate their high-earning careers to donating money to effective charities, even when their skills could create more impact through direct work like research or policy leadership. This mismatch happens because comparing donation impact versus direct work impact is difficult, and switching careers often involves financial risks. Redirecting even a few such individuals could significantly increase social benefits.

A Financial Mechanism to Enable Career Transitions

One way to address this could be for a philanthropic fund to "buy out" an individual’s donation commitments, allowing them to transition into more impactful roles. For example, if someone donates $100k annually but has greater potential as a climate policy researcher, a fund could donate $50k/year for 2-3 years to offset their lost contributions. This buy-out could take different forms:

• A time-bound grant covering partial lost donations.
• A matching agreement where the fund supplements reduced giving.
• A contingent contract that stops payments if the individual leaves direct work.

Key Stakeholders and Benefits

Three groups stand to benefit:

1. Individuals could pursue more fulfilling and higher-impact work without financial strain.
2. Direct work organizations gain skilled talent to amplify their missions.
3. Charities might see short-term donation dips but could benefit long-term through the individual's advocacy or leadership in the same cause area.

This approach aligns incentives: individuals maximize impact, funders optimize social return per dollar, and charities balance short-term and long-term gains.

Implementation and Challenges

A trial could start with 5-10 individuals, assessing their direct-work potential through interviews and skills tests. Contracts would specify buy-out terms, such as partial donation replacement contingent on entering agreed roles. Challenges include:

• Ensuring direct work is truly more impactful than donations.
• Preventing misuse by validating career transitions.
• Mitigating charity funding gaps via phased support.

Existing efforts like Open Philanthropy’s grants or 80,000 Hours’ career coaching don’t specifically address financial lock-in from donation commitments. Unlike general donation funds, this idea integrates funding with talent allocation for greater impact.