maybe getting feedback from various people in EA who know about the sort of things you’re working on but aren’t as busy as the grantmakers
then just applying and seeing whether you (a) already get accepted, (b) get rejected but with useful feedback, or (c) get rejected with no feedback but can then use that as a signal to rethink, get feedback elsewhere, and apply again with a new version of the project and explanation.
Relatedly, a few points that I now feel this post should’ve had more in mind are:
It’s unfortunately plausible that your application will get rejected quickly because the application didn’t make the project’s scope, steps, or theory of change clear enough
It’s unfortunately plausible that you won’t get feedback (since grantmakers are often quite busy and often don’t have many specific things to say beyond “it didn’t seem that this would be great for the world in expectation”)
But you still have the options of asking for feedback from the grantmakers, of getting feedback from other people, and of applying again with altered version of the project or explanation.
So it’s still ok to treat applying as like the start of a dialogue, it just might be a dialogue between you, the grantmakers, and other people, or a dialogue where you have to infer things yourself and then try to speak up again (to stretch the metaphor a bit)
Something else I now often tell people:
Relatedly, a few points that I now feel this post should’ve had more in mind are:
It’s unfortunately plausible that your application will get rejected quickly because the application didn’t make the project’s scope, steps, or theory of change clear enough
It’s unfortunately plausible that you won’t get feedback (since grantmakers are often quite busy and often don’t have many specific things to say beyond “it didn’t seem that this would be great for the world in expectation”)
But you still have the options of asking for feedback from the grantmakers, of getting feedback from other people, and of applying again with altered version of the project or explanation.
So it’s still ok to treat applying as like the start of a dialogue, it just might be a dialogue between you, the grantmakers, and other people, or a dialogue where you have to infer things yourself and then try to speak up again (to stretch the metaphor a bit)