I would also not read too much into GiveWell’s decision to hold onto funds for a year. They do that sometimes when they have an opportunity which they expect will be good, but which hasn’t yet been fully vetted; or if there is an opportunity that isn’t quite ripe yet for some reason. This has as much to do with expectations about next year’s fundraising as it does about todays opportunities.
Something else you might consider is, if you didn’t give to GiveWell, where would you give? And would that other opportunity be better or worse, in expectation?
in April their median projection for funding raised in 2024 from sources other than Open Philanthropy was $421 million, compared to ~$117 million five years earlier.
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Having that funding available allows GiveWell to cover many of its highest-ROI opportunities regardless of our support
This suggests that Open Phil is pulling back funding as GiveWell finds funding from non-Open Phil sources. I suspect that if GiveWell was getting fewer non-Open Phil donations Open Phil would pick up the slack again.
Donations to GiveWell are effectively indirect donations to Open Phil, which is fine if you like Open Phil.
If you didn’t give to GiveWell, where would you give?
The Life You Can Save recommends several charities beyond the GiveWell five. I get the impression that GiveWell’s assessments are more thorough and stringent, but that’s irrelevant if they’re fully funded.
Open Philanthropy has significantly cut back its allocation to GiveWell. “In our GHW portfolio, we decided — and announced last year — that we would scale back our donations to GiveWell’s recommendations to $100M/year, the level they were at in 2020”
I would also not read too much into GiveWell’s decision to hold onto funds for a year. They do that sometimes when they have an opportunity which they expect will be good, but which hasn’t yet been fully vetted; or if there is an opportunity that isn’t quite ripe yet for some reason. This has as much to do with expectations about next year’s fundraising as it does about todays opportunities.
Something else you might consider is, if you didn’t give to GiveWell, where would you give? And would that other opportunity be better or worse, in expectation?
The Open Phil report you link to says:
This suggests that Open Phil is pulling back funding as GiveWell finds funding from non-Open Phil sources. I suspect that if GiveWell was getting fewer non-Open Phil donations Open Phil would pick up the slack again.
Donations to GiveWell are effectively indirect donations to Open Phil, which is fine if you like Open Phil.
The Life You Can Save recommends several charities beyond the GiveWell five. I get the impression that GiveWell’s assessments are more thorough and stringent, but that’s irrelevant if they’re fully funded.