Yes, social incentives are important. But it is also important that people donate to actually effective charities… otherwise they could get the same (maybe even better!) social rewards for locating to a local church.
Given that social rewards are usually only very loosely correlated with how good something is, it is great to have a community that aligns them better. But it easy to goodhart these things. (For example by visiting EA events, but actually not donating… maybe with the excuse that “I will donate later… much later...”.)
Yes, social incentives are important. But it is also important that people donate to actually effective charities… otherwise they could get the same (maybe even better!) social rewards for locating to a local church.
Given that social rewards are usually only very loosely correlated with how good something is, it is great to have a community that aligns them better. But it easy to goodhart these things. (For example by visiting EA events, but actually not donating… maybe with the excuse that “I will donate later… much later...”.)