(I am the new interim project lead for EA funds and will be running EA funds going forward.)
I completely understand that you want to know that your donations are used in a way that you think is good for the world. We refer private grants to private funders so that you know that your money is not being used for projects that you get little or no visibility on.
I think that EA Funds is mostly for donors that are happy to lean on the judgment of our fund managers. Sometimes our fund managers may well fund things like mental health support if they think is one of the best ways to improve the world. LTFF and EAIF in particular, fund a variety of projects that are often unusual. If you don’t trust the judgment of our fund managers or don’t agree with the scope of our funds there are probably donation opportunities that might be a better fit for you than EA Funds.
We try hard to optimise the service for the grantees and this means that we may fall short of building the best service for our donors. We are exploring more donor-focused products with GWWC, that we will hopefully be able to offer soon.
GWWC’s effective charity recommendations page states, “For most people, we recommend donating through a reputable fund that’s focused on effectiveness.” There follows a list of 8 funds, of which the first 4 are EA funds.
If your view as EA funds lead is that EA funds are only suitable for donors who personally trust the judgment of your fund managers, then something seems to have gone wrong with the messaging, because “most people” won’t be in a position to form a view on that.
I also note that none of the funds list under “Why you might choose not to donate to this Fund” that the fund may not account for its donations, which I suspect (as your comment implies) would be a highly material factor to at least some donors. The EA Infrastructure Fund does indicate that a potential donor might not donate if they have concerns about grantmaker independence, but that’s not quite the same point, and there’s no similar warning for the other funds.
The difficulty here is that you understand EA Funds as existing for a narrow set of donors (those who are in a position to assess the trustworthiness of individual fund managers). That may well be a sensible thing to exist, but the funds are being marketed as suitable for a much wider class of donors (“most people”).
(I am the new interim project lead for EA funds and will be running EA funds going forward.)
I completely understand that you want to know that your donations are used in a way that you think is good for the world. We refer private grants to private funders so that you know that your money is not being used for projects that you get little or no visibility on.
I think that EA Funds is mostly for donors that are happy to lean on the judgment of our fund managers. Sometimes our fund managers may well fund things like mental health support if they think is one of the best ways to improve the world. LTFF and EAIF in particular, fund a variety of projects that are often unusual. If you don’t trust the judgment of our fund managers or don’t agree with the scope of our funds there are probably donation opportunities that might be a better fit for you than EA Funds.
We try hard to optimise the service for the grantees and this means that we may fall short of building the best service for our donors. We are exploring more donor-focused products with GWWC, that we will hopefully be able to offer soon.
GWWC’s effective charity recommendations page states, “For most people, we recommend donating through a reputable fund that’s focused on effectiveness.” There follows a list of 8 funds, of which the first 4 are EA funds.
If your view as EA funds lead is that EA funds are only suitable for donors who personally trust the judgment of your fund managers, then something seems to have gone wrong with the messaging, because “most people” won’t be in a position to form a view on that.
I also note that none of the funds list under “Why you might choose not to donate to this Fund” that the fund may not account for its donations, which I suspect (as your comment implies) would be a highly material factor to at least some donors. The EA Infrastructure Fund does indicate that a potential donor might not donate if they have concerns about grantmaker independence, but that’s not quite the same point, and there’s no similar warning for the other funds.
The difficulty here is that you understand EA Funds as existing for a narrow set of donors (those who are in a position to assess the trustworthiness of individual fund managers). That may well be a sensible thing to exist, but the funds are being marketed as suitable for a much wider class of donors (“most people”).
I agree with the last paragraph above, and want to point out that the funds, including LTFF, are still being marketed this way at GWWC: https://web.archive.org/web/20240409182610/https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/donate/organizations
Huh, there does seem to be a communication mismatch. Though I do think the Animal Welfare fund and the Global Health fund are more legible than LTFF.