FWIW I think SBF disagrees. FTX has spent hundreds of millions on marketing so far (see here). For an organization that already believes in the power of PR, making donations that are more legibly altruistic seems like a great way to demonstrate their core values.
Personally I would love to see a commitment to fund any charities that GiveWell projects as 5x to 8x better than direct cash transfers, which currently do not receive donations from GiveWell. You’re right that we should do good things for the right reasons, and I would argue that it’s the right thing to do for FTX to fill that funding gap.
Those partnerships between FTX and sports teams and individuals seem wholly different. They are not purporting to directly improve the world, the way donations to an altruistic cause do. (Rather, their purpose is, as far as I understand, to increase FTX’s profits—which in turn indirectly can increase their donations.) As such, there is no risk of a conflation between PR-related and direct impact-related reasons for those expenditures: it’s clear that they’re about PR alone.
FTX is a for-profit enterprise, and it’s natural that it engages in marketing. My comment rather concerned whether one should donate to particular causes because it looks good, as opposed to because it has a direct impact.
FWIW I think SBF disagrees. FTX has spent hundreds of millions on marketing so far (see here). For an organization that already believes in the power of PR, making donations that are more legibly altruistic seems like a great way to demonstrate their core values.
Personally I would love to see a commitment to fund any charities that GiveWell projects as 5x to 8x better than direct cash transfers, which currently do not receive donations from GiveWell. You’re right that we should do good things for the right reasons, and I would argue that it’s the right thing to do for FTX to fill that funding gap.
Those partnerships between FTX and sports teams and individuals seem wholly different. They are not purporting to directly improve the world, the way donations to an altruistic cause do. (Rather, their purpose is, as far as I understand, to increase FTX’s profits—which in turn indirectly can increase their donations.) As such, there is no risk of a conflation between PR-related and direct impact-related reasons for those expenditures: it’s clear that they’re about PR alone.
FTX is a for-profit enterprise, and it’s natural that it engages in marketing. My comment rather concerned whether one should donate to particular causes because it looks good, as opposed to because it has a direct impact.