After working for cultural and social foundations, I started at EA Germany in 2022.
Sarah Tegeler 🔹
Karma: 548
Thank you so much for sharing this, Lauren! We often discuss this with individuals interested in transitioning into the animal welfare space and I’ll probably send them this post in the future in addition to referring them to you.
Great to see you’re already considering Berlin: it is a good choice if you’re looking for a dense EA community – there are frequent meetups, a long-running coworking space (TEAMWORK), and an annual EAGx conference. EA Berlin spans a range of cause areas and many people work in English-speaking roles. Feel very free to approach me if you have concrete questions or uncertainties about Germany/​Berlin or if you would like some connections to people with a similar background!
Thank you for writing this up, Kyril! I think these are fantastic options for people who want to engage and support the community, but cannot invest a lot of time.
Thank you for the post!
I also find that how I explain EA changes a lot depending on context and who I’m talking to—and sometimes, I realise afterwards that I haven’t quite got across what makes EA distinct.
The four beliefs you identify remind me very much of the general EA principles by CEA:
Prioritization
Impartial altruism
Open truthseeking
Collaborative spirit
I would probably sort them like this:Don’t care about some strangers more than other strangers because of arbitrary group membership. --> aligns well with impartial altruism
Think with numbers. --> aligns with prioritisation and open truth-seeking with an emphasis on using quantitative methods
We don’t know what we’re doing—but we can figure it out together. --> aligns with open truthseeking and collaborative spirit
You can do hard things. --> my question if someone mentioned this would be: how can we do hard things? I think the answer is a mix of prioritisation and collaborative spirit.
I like how your approach captures the culture of EA in a descriptive way, while CEA’s EA principles feel more like a set of aspirations or guiding rules. I might use your wordings for explaining the principles in a more tangible way in the future!
Thank you for sharing, Patrick! I think we need more posts like this, as the perspectives of more experienced people provide a great deal of context that is hard to get otherwise.
I really like this framing, this is what I do and use all the time as well as a full-time community builder and for me it works well.
Thank you so much, Charlotte! I really appreciate your kind words. It’s been helpful to think things through out loud and get input along the way—I’m always keen to hear your thoughts if anything comes to mind.
Yes, the current OSP is focused on university groups. CEA trialed one iteration with city groups last winter. In Germany, most groups are a mix of university and city groups, and those that engage in outreach typically target university students.
For any group that isn’t eligible but still needs support, we’ll continue to offer assistance through 1-1 calls.
I’d be excited to read about your plans on the forum — consider this a nudge to share them!
If you’re here call the number on the paper outside :)
thank you for letting me know!
Thank you for sharing the announcement! For the West Europe one: this event is also aimed at people from Germany, correct? I was surprised that it is not mentioned explicitly (or did I miss it?).
Thank you for sharing this detailed report and for continuing to improve your programs and find new ones that are more efficient and scalable, this is really inspiring!
Thank you for sharing these reflections, Julia! I absolutely agree with the points you raise—this is a topic that comes up regularly in discussions about effective giving for me as well. As you point out, neither extreme approach is feasible in real life, and finding a balance is key.
One aspect I sometimes overlook is the role of rich countries as cultural role models. If we entirely neglect or avoid funding areas like the arts, we risk depriving the richer world of the additional meaning and inspiration these areas provide. At the same time, I agree that focusing on interventions where the majority will benefit is a stronger guiding principle. Striving for a world where everyone can have both bread and roses feels like an ideal worth working towards!
Hi Arden, did you get answers to the questions in the comments yet?
For more up-to-date informoation, you can find our mid-year update here!
Hi, aktuell finden unsere standardmäßigen Treffen alle dienstags statt, aber das wird sich künftig ggf. ändern. Ich schreibe dir eine Nachricht!
Liebe Grüße, Sarah
Agree, our most expensive retreat this year was at EUR ~160 per person, which was fully funded for participants (excluding our working time though).
Other retreats we did were either cheaper or partially funded by the participants themselves.
We are sitting in the garden. Enter the bar, go to the left.
Thank you for sharing, Mila! The calculator was also a big factor for me when deciding how much to give. I love how GWWC made privilege so tangible and visible through it.