EA Funds would like to do more retroactive investigation into the effectiveness of past grants, if you have ideas on which metrics would convince you that paid organizers are effective vs ineffective use of marginal resources, that’d be really appreciated! But of course there’s no expectation that you’d do our work for us either!
I don’t think I fully understand the reputational argument. The most naive interpretation of “It completely undercuts the message of using resources effectively” is that you’re simply assuming the conclusion. If the EV of having paid organizers is very low (or worse, negative), then of course this will be a hypocritical message to send to others. But if the EV is high (or at least higher than counterfactuals), then your actions are in line with your moral beliefs.
FWIW, I’m pretty sure EAIF organizers do, or at least did, believe their grants are cost-effective. But as you say, they might well be wrong,
Many college groups thrive without paid organizers
Do you have good specific examples? Impressive college groups that lead to highly talented young people doing positively impactful projects would be great to emulate!
EA Funds would like to do more retroactive investigation into the effectiveness of past grants, if you have ideas on which metrics would convince you that paid organizers are effective vs ineffective use of marginal resources, that’d be really appreciated! But of course there’s no expectation that you’d do our work for us either!
I don’t think I fully understand the reputational argument. The most naive interpretation of “It completely undercuts the message of using resources effectively” is that you’re simply assuming the conclusion. If the EV of having paid organizers is very low (or worse, negative), then of course this will be a hypocritical message to send to others. But if the EV is high (or at least higher than counterfactuals), then your actions are in line with your moral beliefs.
FWIW, I’m pretty sure EAIF organizers do, or at least did, believe their grants are cost-effective. But as you say, they might well be wrong,
Do you have good specific examples? Impressive college groups that lead to highly talented young people doing positively impactful projects would be great to emulate!