Daniell Pledges 10% Of Winnings To Charity For Life
Marcus Daniell hit a booming ace off the court this week — for charity.
The Kiwi announced that starting in 2021, he will donate at least 10 per cent of his annual winnings to effective charity organisations for the rest of his life.
“I take deep pleasure in knowing that every success I have in my working life will ultimately end up saving or changing lives,” Daniell said.
Daniell on 30 November 2020 launched High Impact Athletes, an organisation whose purpose is to channel charitable donations to the most effective, evidence-based charities in the world, specifically in the fields of extreme poverty and environmental impact. The doubles player has now taken his efforts to another level.
In an article he wrote on the High Impact Athletes website, Daniell explained the rationale behind his decision through eight points. One of those explains why committing to donate 10 per cent of his income is “really not scary at all”.
“I don’t need a fancy car or an expensive watch or even an extra barista-made coffee each day to be happy,” Daniell said. “Donating that 10 per cent is not going to decrease my happiness, but it is going to make thousands of lives a whole lot better.”
[ATP HERITAGE]Daniell, who has been pledging a percentage of his winnings for years, does not donate to just one charity. The No. 45 player in the FedEx ATP Doubles Rankings in 2015 became involved in the effective altruism movement, which focusses on using one’s resources to do the most good. That means Daniell researches charities and networks with organisations that are part of the movement to discover the charities that will make the most tangible impact with the donations.
Some of the charities HIA aligns with in the environmental impact area include The Clean Air Task Force, The Humane League and The Good Food Institute. Extreme poverty-related charities HIA supports include the Against Malaria Foundation, Helen Keller International and Give Directly.
Daniell has involved several tennis players, including Stefanos Tsitsipas and Jan-Lennard Struff, in High Impact Athletes’ efforts to streamline charitable donations effectively. The 31-year-old’s goal for 2021 is to channel more than $1,000,000 in donations to the most effective charities in the world by the end of the year.