Post summary (feel free to suggest edits!): SoGive is an EA-aligned research organization and think tank. In 2022, they ran a pilot grants program, granting £223k to 6 projects (out of 26 initial applicants):
Founders Pledge - £93,000 - to hire an additional climate researcher.
Effective Institutions Project - £62,000 - for a regranting program.
Doebem - £35,000 - a Brazillian effective giving platform, to continue scaling.
Jack Davies - £30,000 - for research improving methods to scan for neglected X-risks.
Paul Ingram - £21,000 - poll how nuclear winter info affects nuclear armament support.
Social Change Lab - £18,400 − 2xFTE for 2 months, researching social movements.
The funds were sourced from private donors, mainly people earning to give. If you’d like to donate, contact isobel@sogive.org.
They advise future grant applicants to lay out their theory of change (even if their project is one small part), reflect on how you came to your topic and if you’re the right fit, and consider downside risk.
The give a detailed review of their evaluation process, which was heavy touch and included a standardized bar to meet, ITN+ framework, delivery risks (eg. is 80% there 80% of the good?), and information value of the project. They tentatively plan to run it again in 2022, with a lighter touch evaluation process (extra time didn’t add much value).
They also give reflections and advice for others starting grant programs, and are happy to discuss this with anyone.
(If you’d like to see more summaries of top EA and LW forum posts, check out the Weekly Summaries series.)
Post summary (feel free to suggest edits!):
SoGive is an EA-aligned research organization and think tank. In 2022, they ran a pilot grants program, granting £223k to 6 projects (out of 26 initial applicants):
Founders Pledge - £93,000 - to hire an additional climate researcher.
Effective Institutions Project - £62,000 - for a regranting program.
Doebem - £35,000 - a Brazillian effective giving platform, to continue scaling.
Jack Davies - £30,000 - for research improving methods to scan for neglected X-risks.
Paul Ingram - £21,000 - poll how nuclear winter info affects nuclear armament support.
Social Change Lab - £18,400 − 2xFTE for 2 months, researching social movements.
The funds were sourced from private donors, mainly people earning to give. If you’d like to donate, contact isobel@sogive.org.
They advise future grant applicants to lay out their theory of change (even if their project is one small part), reflect on how you came to your topic and if you’re the right fit, and consider downside risk.
The give a detailed review of their evaluation process, which was heavy touch and included a standardized bar to meet, ITN+ framework, delivery risks (eg. is 80% there 80% of the good?), and information value of the project. They tentatively plan to run it again in 2022, with a lighter touch evaluation process (extra time didn’t add much value).
They also give reflections and advice for others starting grant programs, and are happy to discuss this with anyone.
(If you’d like to see more summaries of top EA and LW forum posts, check out the Weekly Summaries series.)