So far, I’ve had modest success in building leverage through public donations …
That’s really cool!
I assumed that this would be most motivating/inspiring if I gave to charities with clear paths to impact which my viewers could easily understand.
I share that impression, but also feel pretty uncertain about it, in particular if one actually thinks a cause area other than global health & dev is more pressing. In that case, it might be that public donations and framings focused on those other cause areas—or with less focus on any one cause area—would lead to fewer new EAs/effective givers, but a higher number focused on the more pressing cause areas. And that could be more valuable overall (depending on the details).
The reasons this alternative approach could lead to a higher number of new people focused on the more pressing cause areas are:
some decently common types of people (e.g., animal lovers + “proto-rationalists”) will probably tend to find donations & framings focused on a cause area other than global health & dev more motivating/convincing
people who could end up going in any direction could be nudged one way or another by the first messages they see
Perhaps your efforts are premised on not thinking a cause area other than global health & dev is more pressing? (I think that’d be reasonable, though I personally think animal welfare and especially longtermism are more pressing. I only really make this comment at all because you imply that you think that giving to GiveWell and its recommended charities, while highly impactful, isn’t “optimized for direct impact”.)
When I discuss EA in public, I try to focus more on general principles (“some charities are better than others”, “it’s important to think about all the ways you could help”) than specifically advocating for global dev work, though the latter does happen too.
And if someone sends me a private question about giving (which happens a lot now that I’ve made a big deal about it), I give similarly broad advice, and will often refer people to e.g. 80K’s Key Ideas page.
However, I’ve found over the course of the year that people seem not to care as much about the specific work of the charities I support as about the idea of doing something altruistic at all. In 2021, my public advocacy is likely to lean more meta/longtermist, though I’m not sure about the specifics.
That’s really cool!
I share that impression, but also feel pretty uncertain about it, in particular if one actually thinks a cause area other than global health & dev is more pressing. In that case, it might be that public donations and framings focused on those other cause areas—or with less focus on any one cause area—would lead to fewer new EAs/effective givers, but a higher number focused on the more pressing cause areas. And that could be more valuable overall (depending on the details).
The reasons this alternative approach could lead to a higher number of new people focused on the more pressing cause areas are:
some decently common types of people (e.g., animal lovers + “proto-rationalists”) will probably tend to find donations & framings focused on a cause area other than global health & dev more motivating/convincing
people who could end up going in any direction could be nudged one way or another by the first messages they see
Perhaps your efforts are premised on not thinking a cause area other than global health & dev is more pressing? (I think that’d be reasonable, though I personally think animal welfare and especially longtermism are more pressing. I only really make this comment at all because you imply that you think that giving to GiveWell and its recommended charities, while highly impactful, isn’t “optimized for direct impact”.)
When I discuss EA in public, I try to focus more on general principles (“some charities are better than others”, “it’s important to think about all the ways you could help”) than specifically advocating for global dev work, though the latter does happen too.
And if someone sends me a private question about giving (which happens a lot now that I’ve made a big deal about it), I give similarly broad advice, and will often refer people to e.g. 80K’s Key Ideas page.
However, I’ve found over the course of the year that people seem not to care as much about the specific work of the charities I support as about the idea of doing something altruistic at all. In 2021, my public advocacy is likely to lean more meta/longtermist, though I’m not sure about the specifics.