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 doesn’t 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/medium donors we have. For the same reason that eating 3 meals in a day makes it easier to be productive—despite it taking more time compared to not eating at all—having more of a giving small-donor ecosystem will make it easier to achieve other things we need.
Your argument here is “getting more donors has benefits beyond just the money” (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 that’s why it’s better than other options.
So, recruiting donors is perhaps subsidized by causing the other effects you noted, but if it’s 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, isn’t 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 that’s why it’s 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. let’s promote prediction markets (including the gamification model that manifold uses) to reach people and get people engaged. Let’s throw intensive career discussions at those that would find that interesting. Likewise, let’s not forget about donations as an important part of participating in this community.
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 doesn’t 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 “getting more donors has benefits beyond just the money” (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 that’s why it’s better than other options.
So, recruiting donors is perhaps subsidized by causing the other effects you noted, but if it’s 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, isn’t 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. let’s promote prediction markets (including the gamification model that manifold uses) to reach people and get people engaged. Let’s throw intensive career discussions at those that would find that interesting. Likewise, let’s not forget about donations as an important part of participating in this community.