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IrelandJon Bogard asks whether feeling good is enough reason to give
His TEDx talk challenges donors to compare what their generosity achieves, even when the most effective choice feels less rewarding.
TEDx Talks
Story of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 42,042 views a day, 416 times a normal first day on this channel (101).
Do your acts of kindness make a real impact? | Jon Bogard | TEDxWUSTL
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- 0:05Bogard questions whether his years volunteering at a camp were the most impactful use of his resources.
- 3:43A donation's impact should be compared with what the same money could accomplish elsewhere, he argues.
- 6:36Emotional rewards and weak sensitivity to scale can steer generosity away from helping the greatest number.
- 9:18He recommends objective analysis and expert guidance over gut feelings when choosing where to give.
- 11:17Bogard extends the argument to careers, presenting working life as a sustained opportunity to help others.
Jon Bogard starts with something he once felt proud of: two decades volunteering at a pediatric cancer camp. He remembers the emotional reward, then asks an uncomfortable question. Could he have done more good by putting his time and resources elsewhere?
That challenge has drawn about 26,000 views in ten hours on TEDx Talks, far beyond the channel's usual start for a regular upload. The talk, "Do your acts of kindness make a real impact? | Jon Bogard | TEDxWUSTL," turns the scrutiny on the person doing the helping, beginning with Bogard himself.
A Washington University in St. Louis professor who studies judgment and decision-making, Bogard argues that people often ask whether a donation does good without asking what another use of the same money could achieve. He points to interventions such as bed nets and vitamin A supplements as alternatives worth comparing.
He also separates the emotional reward of giving from its consequences. "Warm glow giving" makes helping feel personally meaningful; "scope insensitivity" means our generosity may barely change even when the number needing help grows dramatically. His recommendation is to use analysis and expert guidance rather than let instinct settle the decision.
Bogard acknowledges the cost of his own advice. Calculated donations can feel clinical beside hands-on volunteering: "It's the moral equivalent of flossing," he says.
He extends the argument beyond charity to working life. A career, he argues, offers repeated opportunities to help others, making the choice of what to do for a living a moral decision as well as a personal one.
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What viewers say
Big or small....just keep doing. Little things matter more than we know, most times
@spacecat7247See it on YouTubeWhat's been your most impactful (and most fulfilling) act of kindness?
@TEDxSee it on YouTube
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- Channel
- TEDx Talks
- Subscribers
- 44,700,000
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 9,528,356
- Channel views, pace per day
- 657,675 (on a normal day: 1,734,627)
- Video published
- November 3, 2026
- Video views so far
- 25,807 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 42,042
The numbers
Bogard's talk has a much faster start than the channel's usual regular upload. Its views so far cover only its opening hours, not a completed first day.
💡 Test your knowledge
In which city is the university where Jon Bogard teaches?
Bogard teaches at Washington University in St. Louis, also known as WashU.