Hey Tom! Yes, we’ve discussed a bunch how this relates to the donations registry, and considered whether the registry fulfils the purpose we’re looking for already, or will in the future. On balance they seemed, as you say, to fulfil somewhat different purposes. It seems useful to have a place for EA profiles, which is flexible enough to allow people to challenge themselves to give whatever amount they’d like and tell others about that, as well as to make public what they’ve so far given. In particular, I imagine this being used by hard-core EA people to share information with each other. But it also seems sensible to have something which brings people together under one banner, in which everyone pledges to give at least 10% to the most effective causes, and are brought together into a community to do that. GWWC has also done quite a bit of work in learning how to create a cohesive community and encourage people to join, which might be quite time-consuming to replicate. I’d be very happy to discuss this more! Seems very valuable to coordinate these things thoroughly. I hear you’re in my part of the world for a change?
GWWC has also done quite a bit of work in learning how to create a cohesive community and encourage people to join, which might be quite time-consuming to replicate.
I’m not sure how strong that rationale is. You could use the same reasoning to argue that GWWC should be the only organisation where people make commitments or donation plans, and that other pledging organisations like The Life You Can Save should be subsumed into it which does not seem plausible. What does GWWC’s work on maintaining a cohesive community and encouraging people to join on the ground involve, and what are the reasons why this couldn’t be done through another platform like the Donation Registry or something else cause-neutral?
Hey, I’m glad to hear that, and would be happy to coordinate ways to make it clear that they’re complementary, and to make them as complementary as possible (we could continue by email). I agree that having the 10% pledge serves a valuable purpose which is distinct from having a flexible donation registry, such as providing a clear benchmark and message, and also a good story for the media to pick up.
I’d likewise guess that that the donation registry and EA Profiles will mainly get used by people who are ‘hardcore’ in the sense of already being somewhat into EA and sold on sharing their donations, as opposed to the average person who hasn’t heard of EA but might get interested in pledging a share of their income to well-evidenced global poverty charities. (Re your post’s question, this seems to me to be an advantage of GWWC keeping clear, relatively concrete messaging on poverty.) Though pulling against that is the fact that, as you say, the registry’s flexible enough to allow people who are just starting to dip their toes into effective giving to challenge themselves to donate whatever amount they feel comfortable with.
Hey Tom! Yes, we’ve discussed a bunch how this relates to the donations registry, and considered whether the registry fulfils the purpose we’re looking for already, or will in the future. On balance they seemed, as you say, to fulfil somewhat different purposes. It seems useful to have a place for EA profiles, which is flexible enough to allow people to challenge themselves to give whatever amount they’d like and tell others about that, as well as to make public what they’ve so far given. In particular, I imagine this being used by hard-core EA people to share information with each other. But it also seems sensible to have something which brings people together under one banner, in which everyone pledges to give at least 10% to the most effective causes, and are brought together into a community to do that. GWWC has also done quite a bit of work in learning how to create a cohesive community and encourage people to join, which might be quite time-consuming to replicate. I’d be very happy to discuss this more! Seems very valuable to coordinate these things thoroughly. I hear you’re in my part of the world for a change?
I’m not sure how strong that rationale is. You could use the same reasoning to argue that GWWC should be the only organisation where people make commitments or donation plans, and that other pledging organisations like The Life You Can Save should be subsumed into it which does not seem plausible. What does GWWC’s work on maintaining a cohesive community and encouraging people to join on the ground involve, and what are the reasons why this couldn’t be done through another platform like the Donation Registry or something else cause-neutral?
Hey, I’m glad to hear that, and would be happy to coordinate ways to make it clear that they’re complementary, and to make them as complementary as possible (we could continue by email). I agree that having the 10% pledge serves a valuable purpose which is distinct from having a flexible donation registry, such as providing a clear benchmark and message, and also a good story for the media to pick up.
I’d likewise guess that that the donation registry and EA Profiles will mainly get used by people who are ‘hardcore’ in the sense of already being somewhat into EA and sold on sharing their donations, as opposed to the average person who hasn’t heard of EA but might get interested in pledging a share of their income to well-evidenced global poverty charities. (Re your post’s question, this seems to me to be an advantage of GWWC keeping clear, relatively concrete messaging on poverty.) Though pulling against that is the fact that, as you say, the registry’s flexible enough to allow people who are just starting to dip their toes into effective giving to challenge themselves to donate whatever amount they feel comfortable with.