Fantastic post, Jeremy! I’m a bit biased, since I had the chance to see earlier drafts, but I really like the generous spirit of this initiative, and it seems like a low-risk, high-potential way to grow the community. It’s very kind of you to offer funding to others who want to try their own giveaways.
In fact, I might just try this myself come Giving Season; I’ve set a reminder in my calendar to think about it on November 15th. Thanks for the idea.
Regarding the survey: Consider changing the wording on question #9:
The bulk of the impact from introducing people to Effective Altruism probably happens over the long term. If you think you might make future changes, or you generally agree with the principles of the book, we’d love to be able to check in with you in a year, to see how things are going.
I’d remove the section in bold. If people are really interested in EA, they’ll hopefully give you contact information either way; if they’re on the fence, they might feel a bit objectified being referred to as sources of impact, or guilty about donating once and planning not to do so in the future (I can imagine giving $100 to GiveWell, then seeing the survey and losing my warm glow because I haven’t had “the bulk of my impact”).
This is a highly speculative suggestion, though, and I don’t think it makes a big difference either way.
Good point about that survey question. I was really trying to get across the importance of tracking future actions, but I agree that it could come across off-putting. What do you think of this?
Thank you for taking the time to tell us about what you’ve done. We’d love to hear about what you may still do as well. If you think you might make future donations or changes in line with the principles of Effective Altruism, can we send you a single, short follow-up survey a year from now? If so, please enter your email address below—it will not be shared with anyone, or used for any other purpose.
That version does sound better. One more suggested version:
Thank you for taking the time to share what you’ve done. Since we also asked about your future plans, could we follow up with one more short survey a year from now, to see what happened?
If that’s alright with you, please enter your email address below—it will not be shared with anyone, or used for any other purpose.
I’m hoping this feels a bit less high-pressure than “what you may still do”, but you could also remove “to see what happened” to help with that.
I see what you’re saying, but I (intentionally) didn’t ask about future plans so I’m not sure if that part works. While I definitely don’t want it to be high pressure, I do want to somehow emphasize the importance of tracking future actions. I wonder if this strikes a balance.
Thank you for taking the time to share what you have done. In order to help us understand the longer-term impact of the book, would you mind if we followed up with another short survey a year from now? If that’s alright, please enter your email address below—it will not be shared with anyone, or used for any other purpose.
I really appreciate you taking the time to back-and-forth with me about this!
Fantastic post, Jeremy! I’m a bit biased, since I had the chance to see earlier drafts, but I really like the generous spirit of this initiative, and it seems like a low-risk, high-potential way to grow the community. It’s very kind of you to offer funding to others who want to try their own giveaways.
In fact, I might just try this myself come Giving Season; I’ve set a reminder in my calendar to think about it on November 15th. Thanks for the idea.
Regarding the survey: Consider changing the wording on question #9:
I’d remove the section in bold. If people are really interested in EA, they’ll hopefully give you contact information either way; if they’re on the fence, they might feel a bit objectified being referred to as sources of impact, or guilty about donating once and planning not to do so in the future (I can imagine giving $100 to GiveWell, then seeing the survey and losing my warm glow because I haven’t had “the bulk of my impact”).
This is a highly speculative suggestion, though, and I don’t think it makes a big difference either way.
Thanks Aaron. Glad to hear you might try it.
Good point about that survey question. I was really trying to get across the importance of tracking future actions, but I agree that it could come across off-putting. What do you think of this?
That version does sound better. One more suggested version:
Thank you for taking the time to share what you’ve done. Since we also asked about your future plans, could we follow up with one more short survey a year from now, to see what happened?
If that’s alright with you, please enter your email address below—it will not be shared with anyone, or used for any other purpose.
I’m hoping this feels a bit less high-pressure than “what you may still do”, but you could also remove “to see what happened” to help with that.
I see what you’re saying, but I (intentionally) didn’t ask about future plans so I’m not sure if that part works. While I definitely don’t want it to be high pressure, I do want to somehow emphasize the importance of tracking future actions. I wonder if this strikes a balance.
I really appreciate you taking the time to back-and-forth with me about this!
I like that wording, and don’t have any changes to suggest.