The 2022 Giving What We Can donor lottery (previously managed by EA Funds) is now open, with block sizes of $100k, $500k, and $2 million. To enter a lottery, or to learn more about donor lotteries, head to the Giving What We Can donor lottery page.
Why enter a donor lottery?
We’ve written before about why you should give to a donor lottery this giving season. If you’re intrigued about what a donor lottery is, or why you might want to enter, I’d recommend reading that article, including the comments (note that it’s from last year, so some specifics like block sizes and dates are different). I’ve copied in some of the key points below:
A donor lottery allows you to turn your donation into a larger donation with some probability, while holding the expected donation amount constant. E.g., you can trade a $1,000 donation for a 1% chance of allocating $100,000 worth of donations. Your expected donation size stays constant at $1,000.
If you win, it will be worth the time to think more carefully about where to allocate the money. Because extra time thinking is more likely to lead to better (rather than worse) decisions, this leads to more (expected) impact overall, even though your expected donation size stays the same.
For this reason, we believe that a donor lottery is the most effective way for most smaller donors to give the majority of their donations, for those who feel comfortable with it.
If you win, we can put you in touch with experienced grantmakers who can help you with the decision.
You should only participate in a donor lottery if you think there’s a good chance you (or someone who you trust) will spend additional time thinking about your donation if you win.
We also think there’s a good case for continuing to make some fraction of your donations directly, to keep engaged with EA donation opportunities.
Practical information about the 2022/2023 Donor Lottery
The Giving What We Can Donor Lottery is now open. The lottery will close to new entries on Monday, Jan 10 2023, 12:00 PM UTC. Any payments not confirmed by Giving What We Can by Monday, Jan 17, 2023, 12:00 PM UTC will not be accepted as entries.
The lotteries will be drawn starting at Mon, Jan 24, 2023, 12:00 PM UTC (drawings for each block size will be spaced five minutes apart).
Which block you decide to enter is up to you (there are no minimum entry sizes on any of the blocks). If you’re not sure, we suggest that you aim to enter with a 1%-30% chance of winning.
Donations are tax-deductible in the US, the UK, and the Netherlands. However, if you live somewhere else, you should still consider entering if you think the expected value of the lottery (including the potential to allocate winnings to projects that are more effective than the most effective charity that’s tax-deductible where you live) is a larger value-add than tax-deductibility.
It is possible to participate anonymously, such that your personal details will only be visible to Giving What We Can and EV operational staff, even if you win. By default, all grants will be made public, unless winners or recipients request otherwise.
For more in-depth information about the lottery process (including the important Caveats and Limitations section), please see the donor lottery website.
The 2022 Giving What We Can Donor Lottery is now open
The 2022 Giving What We Can donor lottery (previously managed by EA Funds) is now open, with block sizes of $100k, $500k, and $2 million. To enter a lottery, or to learn more about donor lotteries, head to the Giving What We Can donor lottery page.
Why enter a donor lottery?
We’ve written before about why you should give to a donor lottery this giving season. If you’re intrigued about what a donor lottery is, or why you might want to enter, I’d recommend reading that article, including the comments (note that it’s from last year, so some specifics like block sizes and dates are different). I’ve copied in some of the key points below:
A donor lottery allows you to turn your donation into a larger donation with some probability, while holding the expected donation amount constant. E.g., you can trade a $1,000 donation for a 1% chance of allocating $100,000 worth of donations. Your expected donation size stays constant at $1,000.
If you win, it will be worth the time to think more carefully about where to allocate the money. Because extra time thinking is more likely to lead to better (rather than worse) decisions, this leads to more (expected) impact overall, even though your expected donation size stays the same.
For this reason, we believe that a donor lottery is the most effective way for most smaller donors to give the majority of their donations, for those who feel comfortable with it.
If you win, we can put you in touch with experienced grantmakers who can help you with the decision.
You should only participate in a donor lottery if you think there’s a good chance you (or someone who you trust) will spend additional time thinking about your donation if you win.
We also think there’s a good case for continuing to make some fraction of your donations directly, to keep engaged with EA donation opportunities.
You can participate anonymously if you like.
Continue reading the original article here.
Practical information about the 2022/2023 Donor Lottery
The Giving What We Can Donor Lottery is now open. The lottery will close to new entries on Monday, Jan 10 2023, 12:00 PM UTC. Any payments not confirmed by Giving What We Can by Monday, Jan 17, 2023, 12:00 PM UTC will not be accepted as entries.
The lotteries will be drawn starting at Mon, Jan 24, 2023, 12:00 PM UTC (drawings for each block size will be spaced five minutes apart).
There will be three block sizes:
$100,000
$500,000
$2,000,000
Which block you decide to enter is up to you (there are no minimum entry sizes on any of the blocks). If you’re not sure, we suggest that you aim to enter with a 1%-30% chance of winning.
Donations are tax-deductible in the US, the UK, and the Netherlands. However, if you live somewhere else, you should still consider entering if you think the expected value of the lottery (including the potential to allocate winnings to projects that are more effective than the most effective charity that’s tax-deductible where you live) is a larger value-add than tax-deductibility.
It is possible to participate anonymously, such that your personal details will only be visible to Giving What We Can and EV operational staff, even if you win. By default, all grants will be made public, unless winners or recipients request otherwise.
For more in-depth information about the lottery process (including the important Caveats and Limitations section), please see the donor lottery website.