I’d like us to have a community fundraising platform and a coexisting crowdfunding norm so that more good ideas get proposed and backed. Also, so that the community (including centralised funders) have a better read on what the community wants and why.
As an example, I have several desires for changes and innovations that I’d be happy to help fund. As an example, I would like to be able to read and refer to a really detailed assessment and guesstimate model for whether, when, and how best to decide on giving now v saving and giving later. I’d help fund an effective bequest or volunteer pledge program. I know others who share my views. I’d like to know the collective interest in funding, either of these. I’d also like centralised funders to know that information, as that community willingness to funding something might make them decide to fund it in conjunction or instead. I don’t currently have any easy way to do this.
I suspect there are many ideas in EA that would possibly attract crowdfunding but not centralised funding (at least initially) because many people in some part of the EA community have some individually small, but collectively important need that funders don’t realise.
With regard to Stefan’s point, rather than reduce risk by reducing and centralising access to funding like we do now, we could reduce it in other ways. We could have community feedback. We could also have contingencies within grants (e.g., projects only funded after a risk assessment is conducted). We could have something modelled on ethics committees to assess what project types are higher risk.
(On phone, early in the morning!)
Thanks for this.
I agree with nearly all of it.
I’d like us to have a community fundraising platform and a coexisting crowdfunding norm so that more good ideas get proposed and backed. Also, so that the community (including centralised funders) have a better read on what the community wants and why.
As an example, I have several desires for changes and innovations that I’d be happy to help fund. As an example, I would like to be able to read and refer to a really detailed assessment and guesstimate model for whether, when, and how best to decide on giving now v saving and giving later. I’d help fund an effective bequest or volunteer pledge program. I know others who share my views. I’d like to know the collective interest in funding, either of these. I’d also like centralised funders to know that information, as that community willingness to funding something might make them decide to fund it in conjunction or instead. I don’t currently have any easy way to do this.
I suspect there are many ideas in EA that would possibly attract crowdfunding but not centralised funding (at least initially) because many people in some part of the EA community have some individually small, but collectively important need that funders don’t realise.
With regard to Stefan’s point, rather than reduce risk by reducing and centralising access to funding like we do now, we could reduce it in other ways. We could have community feedback. We could also have contingencies within grants (e.g., projects only funded after a risk assessment is conducted). We could have something modelled on ethics committees to assess what project types are higher risk.