It seems reasonable to thank someone for the time they spent evaluating a grant, especially if you also do it when the grant is rejected (though this may be harder). I think it is reasonable to thank people for doing their job even (maybe especially?) when you are not the primary beneficiary of that job, and that their reason for doing it is not thanks.
Something in this direction seems generally right. I think it’s reasonable to be grateful for people doing good work in EA (including in grantmaking), and it’s unreasonable to expect for rejected grantees to feel grateful (or happy in general). However, a relevant litmus test is whether you’d also thank people for doing evaluations that are entirely unrelated to your work, just because you think grantmaking is valuable work.
I also think saying a polite “thank you, this money will help us do impactful work in XYZ” when receiving a grant seems reasonable, the problem I’m more alluding to is when it feels excessive or repeated (like I was in an event which was attended by many employees of an org that I recommended a grant to, and I think all ~7 of them thanked me at some point during the event).
A potential alternative is to thank the grantmaking agency and infrastructure rather than the specific investigators of your grant. Another alternative is to express your gratitude much more broadly for the consequentialist value of donating to valuable EA work, rather than making it seem to be about reciprocity or relationships.
[half baked idea]
It seems reasonable to thank someone for the time they spent evaluating a grant, especially if you also do it when the grant is rejected (though this may be harder). I think it is reasonable to thank people for doing their job even (maybe especially?) when you are not the primary beneficiary of that job, and that their reason for doing it is not thanks.
Something in this direction seems generally right. I think it’s reasonable to be grateful for people doing good work in EA (including in grantmaking), and it’s unreasonable to expect for rejected grantees to feel grateful (or happy in general). However, a relevant litmus test is whether you’d also thank people for doing evaluations that are entirely unrelated to your work, just because you think grantmaking is valuable work.
I also think saying a polite “thank you, this money will help us do impactful work in XYZ” when receiving a grant seems reasonable, the problem I’m more alluding to is when it feels excessive or repeated (like I was in an event which was attended by many employees of an org that I recommended a grant to, and I think all ~7 of them thanked me at some point during the event).
A potential alternative is to thank the grantmaking agency and infrastructure rather than the specific investigators of your grant. Another alternative is to express your gratitude much more broadly for the consequentialist value of donating to valuable EA work, rather than making it seem to be about reciprocity or relationships.
The weirdness Linch points at makes sense to me. Other kinds reactions that channel enthusiasm that seem good to me
“This is very cool, I’m excited other people also see promise in this work, and I can’t wait to get started”
“I’m honored by the trust that’s been placed in me, I take it seriously and will strive to live up to it”
Or/and you could just generally thank everyone in EA who seems to be doing important jobs well
This is how I’ve responded to positive funding news before, seems right.
Thanks, I like your suggestions!