I agreeâall else equalâyouâd rather have a flatter distribution of donors for the diversification (various senses) benefits. I doubt this makes this an important objective all things considered.
The main factor on the other side of the scale is scale itself: a âmegadonorâ can provide a lot of support. This seems to be well illustrated by your original examples (Utility Farm and Rethink). Rethink started later, but grew much 100x larger, and faster too. Iâd be surprised if folks at UF would not prefer Rethinkâs current situation, trajectoryâand fundraising headachesâto their own.
In essence, there should be some trade-off between âaggregate $â and âdiversity of funding sourcesâ (however cashed out) - pricing in (e.g.) financial risks/âvolatility for orgs, negative externalities on the wider ecosystem, etc. I think the trade between âperfectly singular supportâ and âideal diversity of funding sourcesâ would be much less than an integer factor, and more like 20% or so (i.e. maybe better getting a budget of 800k from a reasonably-sized group than 1M from a single donor, but not better than 2M from the same).
I appreciate the recommendation here is to complement existing practice with a cohort of medium sized donors, but the all things considered assessment is important to gauge the value of marginal (or not-so-marginal) moves in this direction. Getting (e.g.) 5000 new people giving 20k a year seems a huge lift to me. Even if that happens, OP still remains the dominant single donor (e.g. it gave roughly the amount this hypothetical cohort would to animal causes alone in 2022). A diffuse âecosystem wideâ benefits of these additional funders struggles by my lights to vindicate the effort (and opportunity costs) of such a push.
Getting (e.g.) 5000 new people giving 20k a year seems a huge lift to me. [...] A diffuse âecosystem wideâ benefits of these additional funders struggles by my lights to vindicate the effort (and opportunity costs) of such a push.
One problem I have with these discussions, including past discussions about why national EA orgs should have fundraising platform, is the reductionist and zero-sum thinking given in response.
I identified above, how an argument stating less donors results in more efficiency, would never be made in the for profit world. Similarly, a lot of the things we care about (talent, networks, entrepreneurship) become stronger the more small/âmedium donors we have. For the same reason that eating 3 meals in a day makes it easier to be productiveâdespite it taking more time compared to not eating at allâhaving more of a giving small-donor ecosystem will make it easier to achieve other things we need.
One problem I have with these discussions, including past discussions about why national EA orgs should have fundraising platform, is the reductionist and zero-sum thinking given in response.
Wait, but it might actually have opportunity cost? Like those poeple could be doing something other than trying to get more medium sized donors? There is a cost to trying to push on this versus something else. (If you want to push on it, then great, this doesnât impose any cost on others, but that seems different from a claim that this is among the most promising things to be working on at the margin.)
I identified above, how an argument stating less donors results in more efficiency, would never be made in the for profit world. Similarly, a lot of the things we care about (talent, networks, entrepreneurship) become stronger the more small/âmedium donors we have. For the same reason that eating 3 meals in a day makes it easier to be productiveâdespite it taking more time compared to not eating at allâhaving more of a giving small-donor ecosystem will make it easier to achieve other things we need.
Your argument here is âgetting more donors has benefits beyond just the moneyâ (I think). But, we can also go for those benefits directly without necessarily getting more donors. Like maybe trying to recruit more medium sized donors is the best way to community build, but this seems like sort of a specific claim which seems a priori unlikely (it could be true ofc) unless having more small donors is itself a substantial fraction of the value and thatâs why itâs better than other options.
So, recruiting donors is perhaps subsidized by causing the other effects you noted, but if itâs subsidized by some huge factor (e.g. more like 10x than 1.5x) than directly pursuing the effects seems like probably a better strategy.
Wait, but it might actually have opportunity cost? Like those poeple could be doing something other than trying to get more medium sized donors? There is a cost to trying to push on this versus something else.
Most of the people working on giving platforms, are pretty uniquely passionate about giving. The donation platform team we have, isnât that excited about EA-community building in general. This is a good, concrete example of one way a 0 sum model breaks down.
But, we can also go for those benefits directly without necessarily getting more donors. Like maybe trying to recruit more medium sized donors is the best way to community build, but this seems like sort of a specific claim which seems a priori unlikely (it could be true ofc) unless having more small donors is itself a substantial fraction of the value and thatâs why itâs better than other options.
Just be clear, the mechanism I think at play here is A) Meeting people where they are B) Providing people with Autonomous ways to take action. These mechanisms are good for reaching a subset of people, and getting them engaged.
I am inlined to lean towards multiple axis of engagement, i.e. letâs promote prediction markets (including the gamification model that manifold uses) to reach people and get people engaged. Letâs throw intensive career discussions at those that would find that interesting. Likewise, letâs not forget about donations as an important part of participating in this community.
I agreeâall else equalâyouâd rather have a flatter distribution of donors for the diversification (various senses) benefits. I doubt this makes this an important objective all things considered.
The main factor on the other side of the scale is scale itself: a âmegadonorâ can provide a lot of support. This seems to be well illustrated by your original examples (Utility Farm and Rethink). Rethink started later, but grew much 100x larger, and faster too. Iâd be surprised if folks at UF would not prefer Rethinkâs current situation, trajectoryâand fundraising headachesâto their own.
In essence, there should be some trade-off between âaggregate $â and âdiversity of funding sourcesâ (however cashed out) - pricing in (e.g.) financial risks/âvolatility for orgs, negative externalities on the wider ecosystem, etc. I think the trade between âperfectly singular supportâ and âideal diversity of funding sourcesâ would be much less than an integer factor, and more like 20% or so (i.e. maybe better getting a budget of 800k from a reasonably-sized group than 1M from a single donor, but not better than 2M from the same).
I appreciate the recommendation here is to complement existing practice with a cohort of medium sized donors, but the all things considered assessment is important to gauge the value of marginal (or not-so-marginal) moves in this direction. Getting (e.g.) 5000 new people giving 20k a year seems a huge lift to me. Even if that happens, OP still remains the dominant single donor (e.g. it gave roughly the amount this hypothetical cohort would to animal causes alone in 2022). A diffuse âecosystem wideâ benefits of these additional funders struggles by my lights to vindicate the effort (and opportunity costs) of such a push.
One problem I have with these discussions, including past discussions about why national EA orgs should have fundraising platform, is the reductionist and zero-sum thinking given in response.
I identified above, how an argument stating less donors results in more efficiency, would never be made in the for profit world. Similarly, a lot of the things we care about (talent, networks, entrepreneurship) become stronger the more small/âmedium donors we have. For the same reason that eating 3 meals in a day makes it easier to be productiveâdespite it taking more time compared to not eating at allâhaving more of a giving small-donor ecosystem will make it easier to achieve other things we need.
Wait, but it might actually have opportunity cost? Like those poeple could be doing something other than trying to get more medium sized donors? There is a cost to trying to push on this versus something else. (If you want to push on it, then great, this doesnât impose any cost on others, but that seems different from a claim that this is among the most promising things to be working on at the margin.)
Your argument here is âgetting more donors has benefits beyond just the moneyâ (I think). But, we can also go for those benefits directly without necessarily getting more donors. Like maybe trying to recruit more medium sized donors is the best way to community build, but this seems like sort of a specific claim which seems a priori unlikely (it could be true ofc) unless having more small donors is itself a substantial fraction of the value and thatâs why itâs better than other options.
So, recruiting donors is perhaps subsidized by causing the other effects you noted, but if itâs subsidized by some huge factor (e.g. more like 10x than 1.5x) than directly pursuing the effects seems like probably a better strategy.
Most of the people working on giving platforms, are pretty uniquely passionate about giving. The donation platform team we have, isnât that excited about EA-community building in general. This is a good, concrete example of one way a 0 sum model breaks down.
Just be clear, the mechanism I think at play here is A) Meeting people where they are B) Providing people with Autonomous ways to take action. These mechanisms are good for reaching a subset of people, and getting them engaged.
I am inlined to lean towards multiple axis of engagement, i.e. letâs promote prediction markets (including the gamification model that manifold uses) to reach people and get people engaged. Letâs throw intensive career discussions at those that would find that interesting. Likewise, letâs not forget about donations as an important part of participating in this community.