(Formerly the EA Hotel )
Centre for Enabling EA Learning & Research (Blackpool, UK)
CEEALAR
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We already have an honour-based system where people with an income or >24 months runway in savings are asked to pay cost price. We could perhaps tighten this up, but don’t really want to end up with a system where people with very limited resources would feel obliged to pay and thus don’t apply.
Not sure how much we’re allowed to say. Will ask the grantmakers.
We have talked to people about this but it often comes down to the fact that even if they could hold the money for us, they’d only be able to give it to us if we get non-profit status (and this isn’t a certainty).
“How might you get on a sustainable footing in terms of funding?” We’re hopeful that within 2-5 years we could be sustained by alumni donating back amounts higher than their stay cost.
“Tax deductibility?” We’re still in the process of trying to get a charity registered. This has ended up being a lot more complex and time-consuming than initially expected down to the uniqueness of our project. We do have some potential donors waiting on it, but again, we need funds to bridge the gap to getting charitable status (best case scenario: this could happen by the end of 2019).
“What about EA Grants / EA Funds?” We are still talking to EA Grants and the EA Long Term Future Fund. They have one or two sticking points that we’re hoping to resolve with their input. We need funds to bridge the gap in the mean time.
Here’s an idea: sponsorship of individual rooms: £500/month, minimum commitment of 12 months, voided if hotel ceases to exist in current form in the mean time. You’d get to name the room—e.g. “x suite”—and perhaps specify a cause area it’s to be reserved for. If you’re interested in this, let’s talk.
“Why not just charge people?” I think that would end up missing most of the counterfactual value. We are providing grants in the form of free accommodation and board for those working full time on EA related endeavors (at a very low cost per person year of work - ~£6k). Having a default of charging would curtail the interest of the people and projects most likely to benefit (and the value produced by them). It kind of goes against most of the point of the project (like trying to save a scholarship by asking the recipients to pay).” See thread here for further discussion: https://www.facebook.com/groups/EAHotel/permalink/2617815558273857/?comment_id=2618854804836599 [Note: Closed group, welcome for people to join]
Another idea: we’d be happy to offer a value-aligned significant donor a seat on our Board of Trustees (kind of like Holden Karnofsky and OpenAI, but on a smaller scale). Let us know if you’d like to discuss this with us.