Executive summary: The author argues that grantmakers in EA should provide more detailed feedback to rejected applicants in order to improve community health, make better funding decisions through crowdsourcing, and address concerns about EA seeming elitist or exclusionary.
Key points:
Many grant applicants feel frustrated by the limited feedback given on rejected proposals, which can seem disrespectful.
While more feedback has opportunity costs, completely avoiding it harms community cohesion and fuels resentment.
EA risks developing an excessively rationalist culture detached from human motivations if it discounts applicants’ need for explanatory feedback.
More democratic input into funding decisions could improve them by correcting errors and balancing expert judgment with collective wisdom.
Grantmakers should commit to providing actionable feedback to nurture talent, maintain applicant enthusiasm, and gather critical perspectives.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, andcontact us if you have feedback.
Executive summary: The author argues that grantmakers in EA should provide more detailed feedback to rejected applicants in order to improve community health, make better funding decisions through crowdsourcing, and address concerns about EA seeming elitist or exclusionary.
Key points:
Many grant applicants feel frustrated by the limited feedback given on rejected proposals, which can seem disrespectful.
While more feedback has opportunity costs, completely avoiding it harms community cohesion and fuels resentment.
EA risks developing an excessively rationalist culture detached from human motivations if it discounts applicants’ need for explanatory feedback.
More democratic input into funding decisions could improve them by correcting errors and balancing expert judgment with collective wisdom.
Grantmakers should commit to providing actionable feedback to nurture talent, maintain applicant enthusiasm, and gather critical perspectives.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.