The concept starts with a website that has a fully digital grant application process. Applicants create user accounts that let them edit applications, and applicants can choose from a variety of options like having the grant be hidden or publicly displayed on the website, and posting under their real names or a pseudonym. Grants have discussions sections for the public to give feedback. Anonymous project submission help people get feedback without reputation risk and judge project funding potential before committing significant time and resources to a project.
If the applicant opts to make an application public, it is displayed for everyone to see and comment on. Anyone can contact the project creator, have a public or private discussion on the grant website, and even fund a project directly.
What does this achieve that Google Docs linked from the EA Forum can’t achieve? I think it should start with a more modest MVP that works within existing institutions and more extensively leverages existing software products.
The website is backed by a centralized organization that decides which proposals to fund via distributed grantmaking. Several part-time or full-time team members run the organization and assess the quality and performance of grantmakers. EAs in different cause areas can apply to be grantmakers. After an initial evaluation process, beginner grantmakers are given a role like “grant advisor” and given a small grantmaking budget. As grantmakers prove themselves effective, they are given higher roles and a larger grantmaking budget.
This sounds good.
While powered by dencentralized grantmakers, the organization has centralized funding options for donors that do not want to evaluate grants themselves.
I’m not sure what you mean by “centralized funding options”
Donations can be tax-deductible, non-tax-deductible, or even structured as impact investments into EA initiatives. Donors can choose cause areas to fund, and can perhaps even fund individual grantmakers.
What does this achieve that Google Docs linked from the EA Forum can’t achieve? I think it should start with a more modest MVP that works within existing institutions and more extensively leverages existing software products.
This sounds good.
I’m not sure what you mean by “centralized funding options”
This sounds good.