We need more impactful project ideas for either local EA groups or a few friends!
Have you heard new EA’s ask “This is awesome! What can we/I do?”
And does it feel a bit flat to only say “learn more, plan your career, or do community building?”
It was for sure unsatisfying to me. There’s not enough ground-level, approachable actions. I thought we should make some kind of easy-access projects list..
Doing projects together can really create group cohesion, because of that “fk yeah! we did something and it mattered!” feeling. I could also easily see this lead to a higher rate of members becoming highly engaged EA’s [HEA’s] (which is one of CEA’s metrics for whether a group has success).
I think this is something that is underutilized in our local groups. It can give members a feeling that they are having impact right from the beginning. And I think it is good to balance out the very intellectual reading-group-type stuff with something actionable that actually does good already now.
Some guideline criteria (that I only offer. use if you see fit or use your own)
Should be short or low investment—with a relatively high upside/impact
Can be done by a few people (1-5)
Even better if it’s something that can be reproduced
Fx an Effective Charity run—create all the materials needed & you can share them with other groups to make it accessible for them to execute too [this happens to be an idea I have, and if you want to help me make it please reach out]
What I see you can do:
Populate the Airtable with ideas
(spend some time thinking about them though, and get feedback. The more the ideas are high quality the better)
Sign up as a volunteer
Share with your EA network that this list exists
Consider taking on one of the projects with a few (EA) friends
Callout for low-bar/‘quick win’ projects that local groups can do
We need more impactful project ideas for either local EA groups or a few friends!
Have you heard new EA’s ask “This is awesome! What can we/I do?”
And does it feel a bit flat to only say “learn more, plan your career, or do community building?”
It was for sure unsatisfying to me. There’s not enough ground-level, approachable actions. I thought we should make some kind of easy-access projects list..
And turns out someone already made it! --> EA and AIS projects
Shoutout to @david_reinstein for starting this & @Joe Rogero for taking it over <3
Here’s David’s post about it
Doing projects together can really create group cohesion, because of that “fk yeah! we did something and it mattered!” feeling. I could also easily see this lead to a higher rate of members becoming highly engaged EA’s [HEA’s] (which is one of CEA’s metrics for whether a group has success).
I think this is something that is underutilized in our local groups. It can give members a feeling that they are having impact right from the beginning. And I think it is good to balance out the very intellectual reading-group-type stuff with something actionable that actually does good already now.
Some guideline criteria (that I only offer. use if you see fit or use your own)
Should be short or low investment—with a relatively high upside/impact
Can be done by a few people (1-5)
Even better if it’s something that can be reproduced
Fx an Effective Charity run—create all the materials needed & you can share them with other groups to make it accessible for them to execute too [this happens to be an idea I have, and if you want to help me make it please reach out]
What I see you can do:
Populate the Airtable with ideas
(spend some time thinking about them though, and get feedback. The more the ideas are high quality the better)
Sign up as a volunteer
Share with your EA network that this list exists
Consider taking on one of the projects with a few (EA) friends
I recommend staying with the Airtable to have things in one place, but here’s a few lists for inspiration:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/4mWxEixs5RZ8DfCKe/annotated-list-of-project-ideas-and-volunteering-resources
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/topics/student-projects
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/9AEEqDR8zcQv2XmsB/what-posts-do-you-want-someone-to-write
& if you didn’t know, EA has an opportunity board
This could be very useful to you! For smaller requirements, internships, experience, etc.
EA Opportunity Board
Other opportunities, for the sake of completion:
https://jobs.80000hours.org/
https://jobs.probablygood.org/