Yeah, I think the case of people not wanting to donate to EA Funds because of social/community dynamics (even if they think, on reflection, that they can’t outperform EA Funds) is an interesting one. I guess that if someone is unsure if they can beat EA Funds (or some other ‘boring’/deferent option) but that they feel like they’d be subject to social pressure to do something different regardless, that they could always enter anonymously (this doesn’t solve the problem of people wanting to prove to themselves that they’re good grantmakers, but hopefully goes some way to mitigating the issue).
We’re also trying to provide good support to winners, in the form of contact with experienced grantmakers (including members from each of the EA Funds). So, to the extent that this enables winners to ‘import’ that experience into their decision, while still being able to cast a wider net, it means that even less-confident donors will still be able to remain competitive with alternatives.
Yeah, I think the case of people not wanting to donate to EA Funds because of social/community dynamics (even if they think, on reflection, that they can’t outperform EA Funds) is an interesting one. I guess that if someone is unsure if they can beat EA Funds (or some other ‘boring’/deferent option) but that they feel like they’d be subject to social pressure to do something different regardless, that they could always enter anonymously (this doesn’t solve the problem of people wanting to prove to themselves that they’re good grantmakers, but hopefully goes some way to mitigating the issue).
We’re also trying to provide good support to winners, in the form of contact with experienced grantmakers (including members from each of the EA Funds). So, to the extent that this enables winners to ‘import’ that experience into their decision, while still being able to cast a wider net, it means that even less-confident donors will still be able to remain competitive with alternatives.