If right after AMF received the grant you recommended, I donated 1 k$ to AMF, would the cost-effectiveness of my donation be 10 times that of cash?
I’d guess so, given how large AMF’s room for more funding is (GW as of July ’22, AMF CEO on 300 M$ shortfall 2024-26), but I’m also curious to know what GW has to say.
That said, one consideration pushing the cost-effectiveness bar up and one down:
up: cf. 2nd bullet in section 4.2, GW’s AMF model reports effectiveness per philanthropic dollar, but I don’t care about that; I care about my own philanthropic dollar. This overcounts the cost denominator by 47-133% depending on region
down: if you donated directly to AMF, it’s likely they may fund net distribution according to their internally-prioritized considerations, while if you donate via GW they’ll (quoting GW’s response to you above) “fund net distribution campaigns in specific geographic regions that meet [their] 10x bar” which isn’t an option available to you specifically. This is part of my own reasoning for not donating directly to charities; I’m also mostly persuaded by GWWC’s funds-over-charities argument. Perhaps this isn’t really what you meant though, in which case I apologize for misconstruing
I’d guess so, given how large AMF’s room for more funding is (GW as of July ’22, AMF CEO on 300 M$ shortfall 2024-26), but I’m also curious to know what GW has to say.
Makes sense. Large room for more funding means the cost-effectiveness of additional funds would match that of the last dollar of the big grant. However, GiveWell’s cost-effectiveness estimates of AMF do not depend on the size of the donation:
So I do not think GiveWell’s cost-effectiveness sheet is modelling diminishing returns, but this seems important to infer the cost-effectiveness of the last dollar of their grants.
This is part of my own reasoning for not donating directly to charities; I’m also mostly persuaded by GWWC’s funds-over-charities argument. Perhaps this isn’t really what you meant though, in which case I apologize for misconstruing
Good catch! I had in mind donating 1 k$ to the same programs the big grant was supporting, but as you said this would not be possible by donating to AMF, so I will update my comment above. Now it is about donating to All Grants Fund at any time instead of donating to AMF after a big grant from GiveWell.
I’d guess so, given how large AMF’s room for more funding is (GW as of July ’22, AMF CEO on 300 M$ shortfall 2024-26), but I’m also curious to know what GW has to say.
That said, one consideration pushing the cost-effectiveness bar up and one down:
up: cf. 2nd bullet in section 4.2, GW’s AMF model reports effectiveness per philanthropic dollar, but I don’t care about that; I care about my own philanthropic dollar. This overcounts the cost denominator by 47-133% depending on region
down: if you donated directly to AMF, it’s likely they may fund net distribution according to their internally-prioritized considerations, while if you donate via GW they’ll (quoting GW’s response to you above) “fund net distribution campaigns in specific geographic regions that meet [their] 10x bar” which isn’t an option available to you specifically. This is part of my own reasoning for not donating directly to charities; I’m also mostly persuaded by GWWC’s funds-over-charities argument. Perhaps this isn’t really what you meant though, in which case I apologize for misconstruing
Nice points, Mo!
Makes sense. Large room for more funding means the cost-effectiveness of additional funds would match that of the last dollar of the big grant. However, GiveWell’s cost-effectiveness estimates of AMF do not depend on the size of the donation:
So I do not think GiveWell’s cost-effectiveness sheet is modelling diminishing returns, but this seems important to infer the cost-effectiveness of the last dollar of their grants.
Good catch! I had in mind donating 1 k$ to the same programs the big grant was supporting, but as you said this would not be possible by donating to AMF, so I will update my comment above. Now it is about donating to All Grants Fund at any time instead of donating to AMF after a big grant from GiveWell.