Thanks for pointing that out, Neel. It is also worth having in mind that GWWC’s donations are concentraded in a few dozens of donours:
Less than 1% of our [GWW] donors account for 50% of our recorded donations.
Given the donations per donor are so heavy-tailed, it is very hard to avoid organisations being mostly supported by a few big donors. In addition, GWWC recommends donating to funds for most people:
For most people, we recommend donating through an expert-led fund that is focused on effectiveness.
I agree with this. Personally, I have engaged a significant time with EA-related matters, but continue to donate to the Long-Term Future Fund (LTFF) because I do not have a good grasp about which opportunities are best within AI safety, even though I have opinions about which cause areas are more pressing (I also rate animal welfare quite highly).
I am more positive about people working on cause area A to decide on which interventions are most effective within A (e.g. you donating to AI safety interventions). However, people earning to give may well not be familiar with any cause area, and it is unclear whether the opportunity cost to get quite familiar would be worth it, so I think it makes sense to defer.
On the other hand, I believe it is important for donors to push funds to be more transparent about their evaluation process. One way to do this is donating to more transparent funds, but another is donating directly to organisations.
Thanks for pointing that out, Neel. It is also worth having in mind that GWWC’s donations are concentraded in a few dozens of donours:
Given the donations per donor are so heavy-tailed, it is very hard to avoid organisations being mostly supported by a few big donors. In addition, GWWC recommends donating to funds for most people:
I agree with this. Personally, I have engaged a significant time with EA-related matters, but continue to donate to the Long-Term Future Fund (LTFF) because I do not have a good grasp about which opportunities are best within AI safety, even though I have opinions about which cause areas are more pressing (I also rate animal welfare quite highly).
I am more positive about people working on cause area A to decide on which interventions are most effective within A (e.g. you donating to AI safety interventions). However, people earning to give may well not be familiar with any cause area, and it is unclear whether the opportunity cost to get quite familiar would be worth it, so I think it makes sense to defer.
On the other hand, I believe it is important for donors to push funds to be more transparent about their evaluation process. One way to do this is donating to more transparent funds, but another is donating directly to organisations.