We envisage a future in which individuals and foundations have moved past the tired mentality of just ‘leaving the world a little better than we found it’. Some ways of contributing to the common good are an order of magnitude more effective than is typical. With careful reasoning, patience and a willingness not to be bogged down by any specific way of doing good, our finite resources can transform the world. We should strive, not to make things a little better, but to do the most good with our time and money.