One important difference is that when you’re donating to CEA, you’re donating to CEA the organization, not EV (formerly CEA) the fiscal sponsor. If I gave money to CEA, I have a right to ask the money is put to good uses. I do not have such a direct claim to other projects under the EV umbrella (like GovAI or asterisk or Longview) . Similarly, if I donate to GovAI, I do not have a right to question them about the actions of CEA. The non-consequentialist part of my rights here, aside from the general belief that all actions should be directed to further the good, is from general affiliation as part of the same loosely connected social movement or community.
It’s currently my impression that the use of the term “fiscal sponsor” here (& elsewhere in these comments) misleads more than it enlightens.
When you donate “to CEA” or “to GovAI” (or GWWC or 80K or etc etc), you’re making a donation to EVF. You’re making a restricted donation, but a lot of charities have multiple programs and enable restricted donations. This isn’t fundamentally (or legally) distinct from donating to GiveDirectly and restricting it to going to their Africa programs instead of their US ones.
I appreciate this response, and I re-read Owen’s comment which explains that the “CEA” that authorized the Wytham purchase was always an umbrella organization that houses multiple projects, including “CEA” the community building organization, and that none of CEA proper’s staff were involved in the decision.
The sense in which they’re “the same org” to me is that CEA and EVF, besides being legally part of the same nonprofit, are tightly connected organizations that form the center of the EA community. Not all of EVF’s projects are “central” parts of the EA network – for example, GovAI is cause-specific – but many of them are, like 80K, GWWC, and Asterisk. As Wytham will likely be used for EA community-building events, it seems to fall into this category.
One important difference is that when you’re donating to CEA, you’re donating to CEA the organization, not EV (formerly CEA) the fiscal sponsor. If I gave money to CEA, I have a right to ask the money is put to good uses. I do not have such a direct claim to other projects under the EV umbrella (like GovAI or asterisk or Longview) . Similarly, if I donate to GovAI, I do not have a right to question them about the actions of CEA. The non-consequentialist part of my rights here, aside from the general belief that all actions should be directed to further the good, is from general affiliation as part of the same loosely connected social movement or community.
It’s currently my impression that the use of the term “fiscal sponsor” here (& elsewhere in these comments) misleads more than it enlightens.
When you donate “to CEA” or “to GovAI” (or GWWC or 80K or etc etc), you’re making a donation to EVF. You’re making a restricted donation, but a lot of charities have multiple programs and enable restricted donations. This isn’t fundamentally (or legally) distinct from donating to GiveDirectly and restricting it to going to their Africa programs instead of their US ones.
I appreciate this response, and I re-read Owen’s comment which explains that the “CEA” that authorized the Wytham purchase was always an umbrella organization that houses multiple projects, including “CEA” the community building organization, and that none of CEA proper’s staff were involved in the decision.
The sense in which they’re “the same org” to me is that CEA and EVF, besides being legally part of the same nonprofit, are tightly connected organizations that form the center of the EA community. Not all of EVF’s projects are “central” parts of the EA network – for example, GovAI is cause-specific – but many of them are, like 80K, GWWC, and Asterisk. As Wytham will likely be used for EA community-building events, it seems to fall into this category.