The Intro EA Program might be a good way to get more familiar with some ideas and mental tools/models that are common in EA. Doing Good Better is an introduction to a lot of EA ideas that is fairly easy to read. Scout Mindset would also be a good book to read (less for understanding EA, and more for understanding an approach to the world of figuring out what is true, rather than fighting for what I believe to be true).
If you are in San Francisco (or the greater Bay Area) then it might be feasible for you to meet other EAs in person and get input on how to make your project/effort better.
If you want to adapt some EA-esque practices, then measuring your impact (such as lives saved per 10,000 dollars spent, or years of incarceration prevented per workshop, or job placements achieved per SOMETHING) could be a good start. It is hard to do monitoring and evaluation well, but I’d encourage you to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Once you know your impact and input per unit of impact, then you can compare, optimize, pivot, and so on.
Cause neutrality is a fairly important idea in EA. While I don’t think any person is truly and absolutely neutral about causes (we all have some things that resonate with us more, or pet projects that we simply care more about), in my mind the Platonic ideal of an EA would do a pretty good job of setting aside personal biases/connections/preferences and simply do what accomplished the most. I’m certainly not there (I work in HR for crying out loud 😅), but it is an aspirational ideal to strive for.
In general the bar for EA projects is set pretty high. A lot of EAs might look at an electrical engineering training program and think something like:
It is great to help these kids, but for the same amount of money/time/effort as helping these ten kids each learn how to build a boombox, I could help ten other kids get an extra 15 years of healthy life. One of these needs is gonna go unmet regardless (because we have limited resources), so I’m gonna make the tough choice and put my resources in a project that will have a bigger impact (while at the same time desperately wishing that I could fully fund/support both of these projects, because from what I can tell they both make the world a better place).
To measure our impact, we’d have to fully implement our vision.
We created a successful pilot. Now we need to raise funds to fully implement our vision.
“Healthy life”? You mean, access to food and water? Great! That’s essential.
But this silver bullet idea you’re promoting isn’t possible. People need nutrition AND education. Does EA really promote the idea that we have to choose between nutrition AND education?
Most problems have multiple causes, and need multiple solutions. The idea that people should all support one thing is a grave disservice to communities in need. We need people to support a MIX of solutions.
EA sounds anti-innovation. One of the biggest innovation-killers is the inclination of funders to support a handful of large projects. Large projects are complacent and conservative. Only fresh new projects have the courage to innovate.
The idea that people should eliminate their personal biases/connections/preferences is absurd and counter-effective. Effective social impact requires that people on the front lines apply their PASSION and SKILLS. That’s what they’re good at.
It sounds like this isn’t the feedback you’re hoping for, and that sucks, but I think people aren’t sold on your model specifically. Check out Charity Entrepreneurship as an example of a nonprofit incubator for innovative / unusual ideas!
The Intro EA Program might be a good way to get more familiar with some ideas and mental tools/models that are common in EA. Doing Good Better is an introduction to a lot of EA ideas that is fairly easy to read. Scout Mindset would also be a good book to read (less for understanding EA, and more for understanding an approach to the world of figuring out what is true, rather than fighting for what I believe to be true).
If you are in San Francisco (or the greater Bay Area) then it might be feasible for you to meet other EAs in person and get input on how to make your project/effort better.
If you want to adapt some EA-esque practices, then measuring your impact (such as lives saved per 10,000 dollars spent, or years of incarceration prevented per workshop, or job placements achieved per SOMETHING) could be a good start. It is hard to do monitoring and evaluation well, but I’d encourage you to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Once you know your impact and input per unit of impact, then you can compare, optimize, pivot, and so on.
Cause neutrality is a fairly important idea in EA. While I don’t think any person is truly and absolutely neutral about causes (we all have some things that resonate with us more, or pet projects that we simply care more about), in my mind the Platonic ideal of an EA would do a pretty good job of setting aside personal biases/connections/preferences and simply do what accomplished the most. I’m certainly not there (I work in HR for crying out loud 😅), but it is an aspirational ideal to strive for.
In general the bar for EA projects is set pretty high. A lot of EAs might look at an electrical engineering training program and think something like:
To measure our impact, we’d have to fully implement our vision.
We created a successful pilot. Now we need to raise funds to fully implement our vision.
“Healthy life”? You mean, access to food and water? Great! That’s essential.
But this silver bullet idea you’re promoting isn’t possible. People need nutrition AND education. Does EA really promote the idea that we have to choose between nutrition AND education?
Most problems have multiple causes, and need multiple solutions. The idea that people should all support one thing is a grave disservice to communities in need. We need people to support a MIX of solutions.
EA sounds anti-innovation. One of the biggest innovation-killers is the inclination of funders to support a handful of large projects. Large projects are complacent and conservative. Only fresh new projects have the courage to innovate.
The idea that people should eliminate their personal biases/connections/preferences is absurd and counter-effective. Effective social impact requires that people on the front lines apply their PASSION and SKILLS. That’s what they’re good at.
It sounds like this isn’t the feedback you’re hoping for, and that sucks, but I think people aren’t sold on your model specifically. Check out Charity Entrepreneurship as an example of a nonprofit incubator for innovative / unusual ideas!