Great work, Pablo! I think we need more projects like this so glad to see another one.
On that topic, do you or anyone else know of other such national level projects, aside from Effektiv Spenden (where I do some work) in Germany and RC Forward in Canada? Although I imagine there are many nuances of each country’s bureaucracy, it could make sense to template out the operational aspects that likely don’t differ from country to country.
Another with this bit:
We are thinking of Ayuda Efectiva as a startup, and are trying to build it up with the lowest possible fixed costs. This may mean our progress is slower, but also that keeping the organization running will not be a constant worry that distracts us from our actual goals.
What kind of fixed costs are we talking about, if you don’t mind sharing? If they were too low, I’d be a bit concerned that it could hamper your multiplier. How are you approaching fundraising?
On that topic, do you or anyone else know of other such national level projects, aside from Effektiv Spenden (where I do some work) in Germany and RC Forward in Canada?
Although I imagine there are many nuances of each country’s bureaucracy, it could make sense to template out the operational aspects that likely don’t differ from country to country.
Certainly. I had a brief conversation with Basti and Jack Lewars on this. I am very skeptical about large and complex projects like migrating to the same ERP but would be happy to explore more modest opportunities to avoid repeatedly reinventing the wheel :-)
What kind of fixed costs are we talking about, if you don’t mind sharing? If they were too low, I’d be a bit concerned that it could hamper your multiplier. How are you approaching fundraising?
Fair concern and you are right: “the lowest possible fixed costs” can mean anything :-). In our case, we are looking at costs of less than 10K €/month for 2021. The plan is to bootstrap this (which we can afford) until we can show impact. The metric we will be focusing on is what The Life You Can Save calls leverage ratio: money moved expressed as a multiple of operating expenses. If you are interested in getting into the weeds, I’d be happy to chat :-)
Great work, Pablo! I think we need more projects like this so glad to see another one.
On that topic, do you or anyone else know of other such national level projects, aside from Effektiv Spenden (where I do some work) in Germany and RC Forward in Canada? Although I imagine there are many nuances of each country’s bureaucracy, it could make sense to template out the operational aspects that likely don’t differ from country to country.
Another with this bit:
What kind of fixed costs are we talking about, if you don’t mind sharing? If they were too low, I’d be a bit concerned that it could hamper your multiplier. How are you approaching fundraising?
Again, great work!
EA Brazil did a similar project called DoeBem, but they’ve since stopped it. You can read more about it here: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/Ti7hHFbsK4aDWanjj/what-has-ea-brazil-been-up-to
Devon, thanks for the comment!
I know of gieffektivt.no in Norway and Effective Altruism Australia.
Certainly. I had a brief conversation with Basti and Jack Lewars on this. I am very skeptical about large and complex projects like migrating to the same ERP but would be happy to explore more modest opportunities to avoid repeatedly reinventing the wheel :-)
Fair concern and you are right: “the lowest possible fixed costs” can mean anything :-). In our case, we are looking at costs of less than 10K €/month for 2021. The plan is to bootstrap this (which we can afford) until we can show impact. The metric we will be focusing on is what The Life You Can Save calls leverage ratio: money moved expressed as a multiple of operating expenses. If you are interested in getting into the weeds, I’d be happy to chat :-)
In the Netherlands we have DonerEffectief, launched last year around May.
Happy to share some of our experiences and very interested in your story as well Pablo. We registered many effective charities to make them tax-deductible over the last year. According to https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/165846/donations-sci-deductible-across-european-union/ this this status applies to residents of other EU-countries as well?
Wondering if there are any other EU parties who want to capitalise on this?
Hi Jan-Willem, thanks for the info!
I am interested in learning more about DonerEffectief: I will DM you about that.
As for EU-wide deductibility, last time I checked it was one of those cases where:
EU rules establish something.
The countries’ tax authorities are not happy about it.
National rules make sure the process is as hellish as possible so that only heroes can push through.
I am quite sure that is still the case in Spain, but I will use this as a nudge to look into it again :-)
I checked with our tax advisors and the situation is more or less what I described:
There is an EU court ruling that says donations to non-profits in other member states should be tax-deductible.
However, Spain’s laws have not been adapted to account for that.
If you want to fight for the deduction, you have to go to court.
It seems that regranting —as we are doing in Ayuda Efectiva— is the safe way to go for now.