Vipul Naik donations made

This is an online portal with information on donations that were announced publicly (or have been shared with permission) that were of interest to Vipul Naik. The git repository with the code for this portal, as well as all the underlying data, is available on GitHub. All payment amounts are in current United States dollars (USD). The repository of donations is being seeded with an initial collation by Issa Rice as well as continued contributions from him (see his commits and the contract work page listing all financially compensated contributions to the site) but all responsibility for errors and inaccuracies belongs to Vipul Naik. Current data is preliminary and has not been completely vetted and normalized; if sharing a link to this site or any page on this site, please include the caveat that the data is preliminary (if you want to share without including caveats, please check with Vipul Naik). We expect to have completed the first round of development by the end of July 2024. See the about page for more details. Also of interest: pageview data on analytics.vipulnaik.com, tutorial in README, request for feedback to EA Forum.

Table of contents

Basic donor information

ItemValue
Country United States
Facebook username vipulnaik.r
Websitehttps://vipulnaik.com/
Donations URLhttps://vipulnaik.com/donation-history/
Twitter usernamevipulnaik_r
LessWrong usernameVipulNaik
Effective Altruism Forum usernamevipulnaik
Effective Altruism Hub usernamevipul-naik
GitHub usernamevipulnaik
PredictionBook usernamevipulnaik
Data entry method on Donations List WebsiteManual (no scripts used)
Org Watch pagehttps://orgwatch.issarice.com/?person=Vipul+Naik

Miscellaneous notes: Disclosure: creator of the site

Donor donation statistics

Cause areaCountMedianMeanMinimum10th percentile 20th percentile 30th percentile 40th percentile 50th percentile 60th percentile 70th percentile 80th percentile 90th percentile Maximum
Overall 25 520 1,655 10 25 25 462 500 520 1,000 2,000 3,000 5,000 7,500
12 100 486 10 15 25 25 25 100 462 500 500 660 3,388
Cash transfers 1 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500
AI safety 1 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500
Alternate governance 1 520 520 520 520 520 520 520 520 520 520 520 520 520
Entertainment 1 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
Global health 3 2,000 2,783 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 2,000 2,000 2,000 5,100 5,100 5,100 5,100
Global health and development 1 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000
Migration policy 2 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000
Effective altruism 1 4,167 4,167 4,167 4,167 4,167 4,167 4,167 4,167 4,167 4,167 4,167 4,167 4,167
Animal welfare 1 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000
Education 1 7,500 7,500 7,500 7,500 7,500 7,500 7,500 7,500 7,500 7,500 7,500 7,500 7,500

Donation amounts by cause area and year

If you hover over a cell for a given cause area and year, you will get a tooltip with the number of donees and the number of donations.

Note: Cause area classification used here may not match that used by donor for all cases.

Cause area Number of donations Number of donees Total 2022 2021 2019 2018 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007
Global health (filter this donor) 3 1 8,350.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 8,350.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Education (filter this donor) 1 1 7,500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 7,500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Migration policy (filter this donor) 2 1 6,000.00 3,000.00 0.00 3,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
(filter this donor) 12 7 5,835.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 500.00 0.00 0.00 660.00 3,888.00 762.00 25.00
Animal welfare (filter this donor) 1 1 5,000.00 5,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Effective altruism (filter this donor) 1 1 4,167.10 0.00 0.00 4,167.10 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Global health and development (filter this donor) 1 1 2,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Entertainment (filter this donor) 1 1 1,000.00 0.00 1,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Alternate governance (filter this donor) 1 1 520.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 520.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
AI safety (filter this donor) 1 1 500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Cash transfers (filter this donor) 1 1 500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Total 25 17 41,372.10 8,000.00 1,000.00 7,167.10 3,000.00 500.00 520.00 16,510.00 3,888.00 762.00 25.00

Graph of spending by cause area and year (incremental, not cumulative)

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Graph of spending by cause area and year (cumulative)

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Donation amounts by subcause area and year

If you hover over a cell for a given subcause area and year, you will get a tooltip with the number of donees and the number of donations.

For the meaning of “classified” and “unclassified”, see the page clarifying this.

Subcause area Number of donations Number of donees Total 2022 2021 2019 2018 2012 2011 2010
Global health/vaccination 3 1 8,350.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 8,350.00
Education/low-cost private education in developing world 1 1 7,500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 7,500.00
Migration policy 2 1 6,000.00 3,000.00 0.00 3,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Animal welfare 1 1 5,000.00 5,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Effective altruism/housing 1 1 4,167.10 0.00 0.00 4,167.10 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Global health and development 1 1 2,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Entertainment 1 1 1,000.00 0.00 1,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Alternate governance/seasteading 1 1 520.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 520.00 0.00
AI safety 1 1 500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Cash transfers 1 1 500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 500.00 0.00 0.00
Classified total 13 10 35,537.10 8,000.00 1,000.00 7,167.10 2,500.00 500.00 520.00 15,850.00
Unclassified total 12 7 5,835.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 500.00 0.00 0.00 660.00
Total 25 17 41,372.10 8,000.00 1,000.00 7,167.10 3,000.00 500.00 520.00 16,510.00

Graph of spending by subcause area and year (incremental, not cumulative)

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Graph of spending by subcause area and year (cumulative)

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Donation amounts by donee and year

Donee Cause area Metadata Total 2022 2021 2019 2018 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007
VillageReach (filter this donor) FB Tw WP Site 8,350.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 8,350.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Undisclosed recipient (filter this donor) 7,500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 7,500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Free Migration Project (filter this donor) 6,000.00 3,000.00 0.00 3,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Children International (filter this donor) FB Tw WP Site 5,135.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 660.00 3,888.00 587.00 0.00
Effective Altruism Funds: Animal Welfare Fund (filter this donor) 5,000.00 5,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Centre for Enabling EA Learning & Research (filter this donor) Effective altruism/housing Site 4,167.10 0.00 0.00 4,167.10 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
GiveWell Maximum Impact Fund (filter this donor) Charity evaluation/global health/poverty FB Tw WP Site 2,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
kfangurl (filter this donor) 1,000.00 0.00 1,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
The Seasteading Institute (filter this donor) 520.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 520.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
GiveDirectly (filter this donor) Cash transfers FB Tw WP Site GW 500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Donor lottery (filter this donor) 500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Machine Intelligence Research Institute (filter this donor) AI safety FB Tw WP Site CN GS TW 500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Wikimedia Foundation (filter this donor) WP Site 125.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 100.00 25.00
Creative Commons (filter this donor) FB Tw WP Site 25.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 25.00 0.00
Grameen Foundation (filter this donor) 25.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 25.00 0.00
Mozilla Foundation (filter this donor) FB Tw WP Site 15.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 15.00 0.00
PlanetMath.org (filter this donor) 10.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 10.00 0.00
Total -- -- 41,372.10 8,000.00 1,000.00 7,167.10 3,000.00 500.00 520.00 16,510.00 3,888.00 762.00 25.00

Graph of spending by donee and year (incremental, not cumulative)

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Graph of spending by donee and year (cumulative)

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Donation amounts by influencer and year

If you hover over a cell for a given influencer and year, you will get a tooltip with the number of donees and the number of donations.

For the meaning of “classified” and “unclassified”, see the page clarifying this.

Influencer Number of donations Number of donees Total 2018 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007
GiveWell 5 3 10,850.00 2,000.00 500.00 0.00 8,350.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Donor initiative 2 2 8,020.00 0.00 0.00 520.00 7,500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Street sales 5 1 5,135.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 660.00 3,888.00 587.00 0.00
Issa Rice 1 1 500.00 500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Issa Rice|Double Up Drive 1 1 500.00 500.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Direct online solicitation 4 4 75.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 50.00 25.00
Classified total 18 12 25,080.00 3,000.00 500.00 520.00 16,510.00 3,888.00 637.00 25.00
Unclassified total 7 6 16,292.10 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 125.00 0.00
Total 25 17 41,372.10 3,000.00 500.00 520.00 16,510.00 3,888.00 762.00 25.00

Graph of spending by influencer and year (incremental, not cumulative)

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Donation amounts by disclosures and year

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Donation amounts by country and year

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Full list of documents in reverse chronological order (8 documents)

Title (URL linked)Publication dateAuthorPublisherAffected donorsAffected doneesAffected influencersDocument scopeCause areaNotes
Understanding Open Philanthropy’s work on migration policy2021-11-19Vipul Naik Open Borders: The CaseOpen Philanthropy Labor Mobility Partnerships Center for Global Development Protect the People Niskanen Center Federation for American Scientists Mercy Corps International Refugee Assistance Project Third-party coverage of donor strategyMigration policyIn a similar vein as past blog posts https://openborders.info/blog/overview-of-the-open-philanthropy-projects-work-on-migration-liberalisation/ and https://openborders.info/blog/update-open-philanthropy-projects-work-migration-liberalisation/ on the site, the post reviews Open Philanthropy's grantmaking in the migration policy space. It discusses evidence and possible reasons for Open Philanthropy reducing its grantmaking in the area. See https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/mhp8pofioZpoW6k34/understanding-open-philanthropy-s-evolution-on-migration (GW, IR) for a cross-post to the EA Forum.
My Q1 2019 EA Hotel donation (GW, IR)2019-03-31Vipul Naik Effective Altruism ForumVipul Naik Centre for Enabling EA Learning & Research Single donation documentationEffective altruism/housingThe post documents the author's reasons for making a donation to the EA Hotel. The bulk of the post gives the author's general assessment of the EA Hotel, but the last section gives more details on how the donation decision was made. The author says he likes the idea of the EA Hotel, likes the skin-in-the-game of key players, likes the execution so far, and finds the value of marginal donations high and easy to grasp. He also explains why the lack of interest from other donors does not dissuade him
My 2018 donations (GW, IR)2018-11-23Vipul Naik Effective Altruism ForumVipul Naik GiveWell top charities Machine Intelligence Research Institute Donor lottery Periodic donation list documentationGlobal health and development|AI safetyThe blog post describes an allocation of $2,000 to GiveWell for regranting to top charities, and $500 each to MIRI and the $500,000 donor lottery. The latter two donations are influenced by Issa Rice, who describes his reasoning at https://issarice.com/donation-history#section-3 Vipul Naik's post explains the reason for donating now rather than earlier or later, the reason for donating this amount, and the selection of recipients. The post is also cross-posted at https://vipulnaik.com/blog/my-2018-donations/ and https://github.com/vipulnaik/working-drafts/blob/master/eaf/my-2018-donations.md
Belief status: off-the-cuff thoughts!2017-01-19Vipul Naik Facebook Machine Intelligence Research Institute Reasoning supplementAI safetyThe post argues that (lack of) academic endorsement of the work done by MIRI should not be an important factor in evaluating MIRI, offering three reasons. Commenters include Rob Bensinger, Research Communications Manager at MIRI.
GiveWell money moved in 2015: a review of my forecast and some future predictions (GW, IR)2016-05-15Vipul Naik Effective Altruism Forum GiveWell GiveWell top charities Against Malaria Foundation GiveDirectly Schistosomiasis Control Initiative Deworm the World Initiative GiveWell Miscellaneous commentaryGlobal health and developmentThe post is a follow-up to the forecasting post https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/JRZipptLFXvJQEvQh/givewell-money-moved-forecasts-and-implications (GW, IR) in light of GiveWell's official report of money moved and web traffic for 2015 at https://blog.givewell.org/2016/05/13/givewells-money-moved-web-traffic-2015/ The post identifies the key reasons for the significant underestimation of money moved in the forecasting post, and some phenomena highlighted by the difference between the forecast and what transpired in reality
GiveWell money moved forecasts and implications (GW, IR)2015-12-19Vipul Naik Effective Altruism Forum GiveWell GiveWell top charities Against Malaria Foundation GiveDirectly Schistosomiasis Control Initiative Deworm the World Initiative GiveWell Miscellaneous commentaryGlobal health and developmentThe blog post includes predictions on how much money GiveWell top charities will raise as part of the 2015 end-of-year giving season
Should you donate to the Wikimedia Foundation? (GW, IR)2015-03-28Vipul Naik Effective Altruism Forum Wikimedia Foundation Evaluator review of doneeKnowledge commonsThe post says: "I believe that some of the common arguments people make in favor of the donating to the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF), the non-profit that hosts Wikipedia and a number of its sister sites, are flawed."
Evaluating GiveWell as a startup idea based on Paul Graham's philosophy (GW, IR)2014-04-12Vipul Naik LessWrong GiveWell GiveWell Miscellaneous commentaryCharity evaluatorThe blog post looks at the GiveWell founding story and compares it with essays from Paul Graham on the journeys of successful startups

Full list of donations in reverse chronological order (25 donations)

Graph of top 10 donees (for donations with known year of donation) by amount, showing the timeframe of donations

Graph of donations and their timeframes
DoneeAmount (current USD)Amount rank (out of 25)Donation dateCause areaURLInfluencerNotes
Effective Altruism Funds: Animal Welfare Fund5,000.0032022-12-16Animal welfarehttps://vipulnaik.com/donation-history/-- Donation process: The post https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/u3D8xM5XNgerHpAtc/my-donation-budget-and-fallback-donation-allocation (GW, IR) (published 2022-10-16, two months prior to the donation) describes the donor's overall thought process and plan to make the donation. The post https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/23HedigdyP24awmsK/how-does-the-collapse-of-the-ftx-future-fund-change-the (GW, IR) describes further deliberation by the donor that could potentially change the donor's decision, but that ultimately did not change the donor's decision.

Intended use of funds (category): Regranting

Donor reason for selecting the donee: The section https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/u3D8xM5XNgerHpAtc/my-donation-budget-and-fallback-donation-allocation#Minimum_donation_targets_and_fallback_donations (GW, IR) describes the donor's reasoning behind wanting to donate to "fallback" donation targets such as the Effective Altruism Funds. The section https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/u3D8xM5XNgerHpAtc/my-donation-budget-and-fallback-donation-allocation#Comparing_animal_welfare__the_long_term_future__and_EA_infrastructure (GW, IR) describes the donor's reason for choosing the Animal Welfare Fund instead of the other EA Funds: "The long-term future, viewed abstractly, is probably the most important. [...] Animal welfare seems the most neglected, though it's hard to say [...] Given all these considerations, I'm leaning toward treating animal welfare as the most high-value area to donate to."

Donor reason for donating that amount (rather than a bigger or smaller amount): The section https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/u3D8xM5XNgerHpAtc/my-donation-budget-and-fallback-donation-allocation#My_solution_for_now__minimum_fallback_donation_target_assuming_enough_donation_budget (GW, IR) articulates the donor's reason for selecting the amount of $5,000 as being both "small enough" and "big enough" for both the donor and the donee.
Percentage of total donor spend in the corresponding batch of donations: 100.00%

Donor reason for donating at this time (rather than earlier or later): The section https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/u3D8xM5XNgerHpAtc/my-donation-budget-and-fallback-donation-allocation#When_should_I_start_applying_fallback_donation_targets_ (GW, IR) gives arguments for and against making the donation right away (starting 2022). It ends with "Overall, I'm leaning toward starting in 2022, but I plan to continue to think about this through October and November to see if other considerations come up that I hadn't thought of before."

Donor thoughts on making further donations to the donee: The section https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/u3D8xM5XNgerHpAtc/my-donation-budget-and-fallback-donation-allocation#My_solution_for_now__minimum_fallback_donation_target_assuming_enough_donation_budget (GW, IR) says: "The idea I had is to do a periodic (e.g., end-of-year) evaluation as follows. If by the end of the year, I have $10,000 or more unallocated in my donation budget, I will allocate $5,000 to a single fallback donation target. The target can vary by year, but in any given year it should represent my best judgment among the pool of options (the EA Funds and the GiveWell Maximum Impact Fund)." The later section https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/u3D8xM5XNgerHpAtc/my-donation-budget-and-fallback-donation-allocation#Donation_bunching (GW, IR) says that donation bunching considerations may lead to deferring a donation to the next calendar year.
Free Migration Project3,000.0062022-01-04Migration policyhttps://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/xzQzLoEC5mvPyJTYY/my-q1-2022-donation-to-free-migration-project (GW, IR)-- Donation process: The donation post does not explicitly describe a donation process, but https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/xzQzLoEC5mvPyJTYY/my-q1-2022-donation-to-free-migration-project#Maturing_of_background_investigation (GW, IR) mentions various pieces of background investigation that the donor completed prior to the donation decision.

Intended use of funds (category): Organizational general support

Donor reason for selecting the donee: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/xzQzLoEC5mvPyJTYY/my-q1-2022-donation-to-free-migration-project#Some_background_thinking_motivating_this_donation (GW, IR) describes reasons the donor considers the donee worth supporting: existence value as "one of the few organizations (and the only one I clearly know) that supports freedom of movement as its core mission" and its sponsorship of the Open Borders Conference. It also discusses FMP's room for more funding.

Donor reason for donating that amount (rather than a bigger or smaller amount): https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/xzQzLoEC5mvPyJTYY/my-q1-2022-donation-to-free-migration-project#Reasons_for_amount (GW, IR) describes reasons for the amount, based both on the donor's donation budget and on marginal value of funding for the donee. The donor's donation budget is ultimately the more binding constraint, and guidance is provided to other aligned donors on how much further room for funding is there.
Percentage of total donor spend in the corresponding batch of donations: 100.00%

Donor reason for donating at this time (rather than earlier or later): https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/xzQzLoEC5mvPyJTYY/my-q1-2022-donation-to-free-migration-project#Reasons_for_timing (GW, IR) describes various reasons for the timing of the donation: FMP's financial situation, donor's donation budget accumulation, donor's exit from the board, and maturing of background investigation. Tax considerations influencing the decision to donate in 2022 are also described.

Donor thoughts on making further donations to the donee: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/xzQzLoEC5mvPyJTYY/my-q1-2022-donation-to-free-migration-project#Potential_future_donations (GW, IR) describes some of the donor's thoughts on future donations. It says: "If I were to donate to FMP in the future, or to recommend to others to donate more to it, one thing I'd like to nail down is a better picture of how exactly FMP is spreading the idea of free migration and open borders, and how successful it has been. I might have further conversations with Dave on this point in the coming weeks and months, and might write more about this (even if I don't make a further donation, as long as I think there's enough value in what FMP is doing to be worth bringing to the attention of others)."

Other notes: In https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/xzQzLoEC5mvPyJTYY/my-q1-2022-donation-to-free-migration-project#Some_considerations_specific_to_my_relationship_with_Free_Migration_Project (GW, IR) the donor describes several considerations specific to his relationship with Free Migration Project, that might generate conflicts of interest and give the donor access to private information.
kfangurl1,000.00112021-10-09Entertainmenthttps://vipulnaik.com/blog/my-somewhat-unusual-q4-2021-donation/-- Donation process: The donation post describes background thinking that led to the donation, including thoughts around sponsoring a Legibility Prize, as well as deferral of the decision in order to investigate other donation opportunities. It says: "The ultimate decision to donate was a sort-of-impulsive decision with all this information in the backdrop."

Intended use of funds: The funds go directly to support kfangurl, the blogger behind https://thefangirlverdict.com/ (The Fangirl Verdict), a blog reviewing Korean and other East Asian dramas.

Donor reason for selecting the donee: Several reasons are listed in bullet points in the donation post, including a belief that the world would be better off through emulation of her style, the world is likely better off if she continues this work, preference for continued public production, and confidence that she is on the path to figuring out sustainable monetization.

Donor reason for donating that amount (rather than a bigger or smaller amount): The donation amount of $1,000 is described in the donation post as the minimum amount the donor considers donating. The donor also gives two donor-specific reasons (maintaing budget for other donations, reducing potential regret) and two donee-specific reasons (not creating an obligation, not distorting the donee's search for monetization opportunities) for not donating more, and says the donor-specific reasons were more constraining.
Percentage of total donor spend in the corresponding batch of donations: 100.00%

Donor reason for donating at this time (rather than earlier or later): The donation post says: "I had been pondering this donation since September; I mooted the idea of the Legibility Prize back on September 22. Initially, I wanted to hold off on this because I was expecting to make other, larger donations that would use up my $1,000/month budget for a while. By early October, I had decided that I either wouldn’t make the larger donations or would make them at a lower size than I had initially thought. This left some room for making the donation to kfangurl. The ultimate decision to donate was a sort-of-impulsive decision with all this information in the backdrop."

Donor thoughts on making further donations to the donee: The donation post says: "In light of the various considerations that led me to choose the donation amount, it’s relatively unlikely that I will make further donations to kfangurl. I would not rule it out, but I do not expect to privilege this donation target for consideration when thinking about future donations. [...] The donation amount is small enough that I do not feel obliged to write up a retrospective on it. I do, however, plan to continue monitoring the blog, something that’s made easier by the fact that I expect to continue to be interested in its content as a consumer. The success and the trajectory of The Fangirl Verdict in coming years will inform my thinking about such donations."

Other notes: The donation post highlights the prima facie unusual nature of the donation: "This may come as a surprise, given my past donation history and my interest in effective altruism." It also includes several details on the evolution of the donor's thinking about donation, donations versus gifts, and the importance of legibiility and public production.
Free Migration Project3,000.0062019-12-22Migration policyhttps://vipulnaik.com/donation-history/-- Donation process: End-of-year donation made from a perspective of semi-obligation

Intended use of funds (category): Organizational general support

Donor reason for selecting the donee: The donation log page says: "I thought of this as a one-time donation to discharge my responsibility as a board member to financially support the organization, given my limitations in contributing in other ways."

Donor reason for donating that amount (rather than a bigger or smaller amount): Explaining the amount, the donation log page says: "I see it as the equivalent of sending $500/year for 6 years, which is the duration of my board tenure."
Percentage of total donor spend in the corresponding batch of donations: 100.00%

Donor reason for donating at this time (rather than earlier or later): Explaining the timing, the donation log page says: "There isn't a very specific reason for the timing, other than the fact that at the end of the year, I'm thinking about donation opportunities and in particular looking at donations that I have some sense of "obligation" to make."

Donor thoughts on making further donations to the donee: The donation page log says: "I'm not planning to make a followup donation in the near future, since this donation discharges my responsibility; any further donation decisions will be based on the same sort of extensive analysis that I subjected my EA Hotel donation to."
Centre for Enabling EA Learning & Research4,167.1042019-03-31Effective altruism/housinghttps://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/BM2DYWpM6rSxyZ7AS/my-q1-2019-ea-hotel-donation (GW, IR)-- Donation process: This was a spontaneous donation made based on extensive thinking and review of a somewhat time-sensitive donation opportunity, and not part of planned end-of-year giving.

Intended use of funds (category): Organizational general support

Intended use of funds: The money goes directly toward supporting the EA Hotel and extending its runway by a few weeks. https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/BM2DYWpM6rSxyZ7AS/my-q1-2019-ea-hotel-donation#I_find_the_value_of_marginal_donations_high_and_easy_to_grasp (GW, IR) says: "With this model of spending, I can concretely think of my donation of 3200 GBP as having added about 13 days to the hotel's runway.". Greg Colbourn comments with an updated estimate: "Note that costs have been lower recently (due to relying more on volunteer labour, and an increase in contributions from guests) - for an average over January-March your donation covers 20 days of costs, and for March alone it covers 27 days (and will likely be similar for April)."

Donor reason for selecting the donee: The blog post https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/BM2DYWpM6rSxyZ7AS/my-q1-2019-ea-hotel-donation (GW, IR) has a number of sections explaining reasons for the donation: "I like the idea of the EA Hotel; I like the skin-in-the-game of the key players; I like the execution so far; I see institutional risk reasons for lack of institutional funding: These reasons don't apply to individual donors, so I don't see the lack of institutional funding as a reason to dissuade me from donating; I have not been dissuaded by the reasons against donating that I have seen so far; I find the value of marginal donations high and easy to grasp." The last section https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/BM2DYWpM6rSxyZ7AS/my-q1-2019-ea-hotel-donation#How_I_decided_to_donate_and_determined_the_donation_amount (GW, IR) goes into the personal thoughts of the donor and how he ultimately decided to make the donation.

Donor reason for donating that amount (rather than a bigger or smaller amount): The section https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/BM2DYWpM6rSxyZ7AS/my-q1-2019-ea-hotel-donation#How_I_decided_to_donate_and_determined_the_donation_amount (GW, IR) gives two reasons for donating this high an amount: (i) high savings of the author in the last few months, (ii) high overhead of donation made it seem worthwhile if it covered at least two weeks of operations. Reasons for not donating a higher amount: (i) need to build more personal savings long-term, (ii) interest in seeing how further donations play out.
Percentage of total donor spend in the corresponding batch of donations: 100.00%

Donor reason for donating at this time (rather than earlier or later): The section https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/BM2DYWpM6rSxyZ7AS/my-q1-2019-ea-hotel-donation#How_I_decided_to_donate_and_determined_the_donation_amount (GW, IR) gives the following reasons for not waiting longer before donating: (i) the author felt he was "unlikely to get anything in the next few days that would change my stance significantly", (ii) sense of urgency since the existing runway was expected to last till May, (iii) weekend is a good time to make the donation and document it, because things are busier during the week.
Intended funding timeframe in months: 1

Donor thoughts on making further donations to the donee: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/BM2DYWpM6rSxyZ7AS/my-q1-2019-ea-hotel-donation#How_I_decided_to_donate_and_determined_the_donation_amount (GW, IR) says: "Depending on how fundraising dynamics proceed, I may make one more donation."

Other notes: The amount listed as donated is based on Fixer.io currency conversion; the actual amount paid out by the donor was $4306.41 USD, including a foreign exchange fee.
Machine Intelligence Research Institute500.00142018-12-22AI safetyhttps://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/dznyZNkAQMNq6HtXf/my-2018-donations (GW, IR)Issa Rice Double Up Drive Donation process: One of two year-end donations made in 2018 made by Vipul Naik but directed by Issa Rice

Intended use of funds (category): Organizational general support

Intended use of funds: Unrestricted funding to support MIRI's operations

Donor reason for selecting the donee: Donation decided on by Issa Rice. The donation to MIRI accounts for 50% of the $1,000 that Vipul Naik gave Issa Rice to direct. Rice explains his reasoning in https://issarice.com/donation-history#section-3 as follows: "$500 to Machine Intelligence Research Institute (with an additional $500 from REG’s Double Up Drive). This was mostly intended as a retrospective donation, as thanks for producing useful content and ideas, and for doing work that I consider useful in the AI safety space."

Donor reason for donating that amount (rather than a bigger or smaller amount): The amount is capped by the amount of $1,000 available from Vipul Naik to Issa Rice to direct; he directed $500 out of that $1,000 because of the decision to direct the other $500 to the donor lottery
Percentage of total donor spend in the corresponding batch of donations: 50.00%

Donor reason for donating at this time (rather than earlier or later): The timing is determined by the timing of availability of the $1,000 from Vipul Naik for Issa Rice to direct. The initial $500 to direct had been made available at the end of 2017, but Rice had deferred allocating it; with the additional $500 available at the end of 2018, Rice decided to allocate the entire $1,000

Donor thoughts on making further donations to the donee: The section https://issarice.com/donation-history#section-3 says: "As of late 2018, for prospective funding, I do share concerns about MIRI’s new nondisclosure-by-default policy and also think that its “room for more funding” may not be as great as in the past (the latter is sort of hard to assess due to the former)."

Other notes: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/dznyZNkAQMNq6HtXf/my-2018-donations#The_selection_of_recipients (GW, IR) by Vipul Naik explains the financing context: "For each of the years 2017 and 2018, I had given Issa the option of assigning $500 of my money to charitable causes of his choosing (with no strict requirement that these be recognized as charities). In 2017, Issa deferred the use of the money, so he had $1,000 to allocate. Issa ultimately decided to allocate 50% of the $1,000 (i.e., $500) to the $500,000 EA Donor Lottery, and another 50% to the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI)." As the document also says: "The donation qualified for donation double from Raising for Effective Giving's Double Up Drive".
Donor lottery500.00142018-12-22--https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/dznyZNkAQMNq6HtXf/my-2018-donations (GW, IR)Issa Rice Donation process: One of two year-end donations made in 2018 made by Vipul Naik but directed by Issa Rice

Intended use of funds (category): Direct project expenses

Intended use of funds: The lottery in question is a $500,000 donor lottery for the end of 2018, as described at https://app.effectivealtruism.org/lotteries/63715163508813

Donor reason for selecting the donee: Donation decided on by Issa Rice. The lottery in question is a $500,000 donor lottery for the end of 2018, as described at https://app.effectivealtruism.org/lotteries/63715163508813 and accounts for 50% of his $1,000 allocation. The reasoning is explained at https://issarice.com/donation-history#section-3 which says: "After watching the donor lottery for the first two years, I felt comfortable about giving to it. The donor lottery seemed like a good choice given my general uncertainties about the world."

Donor reason for donating that amount (rather than a bigger or smaller amount): The amount is capped by the amount of $1,000 available from Vipul Naik to Issa Rice to direct; he directed $500 out of that $1,000 because of the decision to direct the other $500 to MIRI
Percentage of total donor spend in the corresponding batch of donations: 50.00%

Donor reason for donating at this time (rather than earlier or later): The timing is determined by the timing of availability of the $1,000 from Vipul Naik for Issa Rice to direct. The initial $500 to direct had been made available at the end of 2017, but Rice had deferred allocating it; with the additional $500 available at the end of 2018, Rice decided to allocate the entire $1,000

Donor thoughts on making further donations to the donee: The section https://issarice.com/donation-history#section-3 talks about thoughts regarding further donations, and does not mention the donor lottery as a future donation target

Other notes: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/dznyZNkAQMNq6HtXf/my-2018-donations#The_selection_of_recipients (GW, IR) by Vipul Naik explains the financing context: "For each of the years 2017 and 2018, I had given Issa the option of assigning $500 of my money to charitable causes of his choosing (with no strict requirement that these be recognized as charities). In 2017, Issa deferred the use of the money, so he had $1,000 to allocate. Issa ultimately decided to allocate 50% of the $1,000 (i.e., $500) to the $500,000 EA Donor Lottery, and another 50% to the Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI). For the donor lottery, the understanding was that although the entry was under my name, Issa would make the decision as to how to allocate the winnings in the (0.1% probability) event that I win the lottery.".
GiveWell Maximum Impact Fund2,000.0082018-12-22Global health and developmenthttps://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/dznyZNkAQMNq6HtXf/my-2018-donations (GW, IR)GiveWell Donation process: Part of a set of year-end donations made in 2018

Intended use of funds (category): Direct project expenses

Intended use of funds: Money to GiveWell for regranting to its top charities (through GiveWell Maximum Impact Fund) based on GiveWell's assessment of which charity can make the best use of funds at the margin

Donor reason for selecting the donee: The section https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/dznyZNkAQMNq6HtXf/my-2018-donations#The_selection_of_recipients (GW, IR) goes into detail on this, comparing GiveWell Maximum Impact Fund with Effective Altruism Funds and various rising stars. The summary says: "For the money directly allocated by me, GiveWell Maximum Impact Fund won as a default baseline because the alternatives were not yet compelling enough."

Donor reason for donating that amount (rather than a bigger or smaller amount): The section https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/dznyZNkAQMNq6HtXf/my-2018-donations#My_reason_for_choosing_this_amount_to_donate (GW, IR) goes into detail on this. It works out the total amount of $3,000 ($2,000 direct + $1,000 donated based on recommendations from Issa Rice) based on a few heuristics; $500/year for 6 years, 1% of income, and the right size where it justifies transaction costs
Percentage of total donor spend in the corresponding batch of donations: 100.00%

Donor reason for donating at this time (rather than earlier or later): The section https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/dznyZNkAQMNq6HtXf/my-2018-donations#My_reason_for_donating_now_rather_than_earlier_or_later (GW, IR) goes into detail on this. It talks about how the author stopped making donations after 2012, to focus on building a savings buffer and funding contract work, and how the situation has recently changed enough to make it worth considering a standard charity donation

Donor thoughts on making further donations to the donee: The section https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/dznyZNkAQMNq6HtXf/my-2018-donations#Summary (GW, IR) says: "I hope to continue working on projects like the Donations list website on my personal time and through contract work. I also hope to get a clearer picture of a number of things that might lead to more interesting donation decisions in the future."

Other notes: Employer match: LiftIgniter matched 100.00.
GiveDirectly500.00142012-12-24Cash transfershttps://vipulnaik.com/donation-history/GiveWell Donation process: Based on an understanding of GiveWell recommendations as well as additional judgment

Intended use of funds (category): Organizational general support

Intended use of funds: GiveDirectly uses these funds to support its unconditional cash transfer programs

Donor reason for selecting the donee: The donation page says: "GiveDirectly was at the time rated #2 by GiveWell and they hoped to raise money in a 7:2:1 ratio for their top three charities respectively, but I believed that the actual skew of funds raised would be biased against GiveDirectly because of its relatively less tested concept. My $500 donation was therefore a corrective to what I perceived would be an imbalance in the way money would flow to the top charities, and a suspicion that AMF would end up raising more money than they could allocate in the short term."

Donor reason for donating that amount (rather than a bigger or smaller amount): The donation page says: "n 2012, my financial position had still not recovered from the huge expenses in 2010 and 2011, and other expenses of mine had also increased [...] However, I was still committed to the idea of effective altruism. For these reasons, I decided to still make a donation, but with a budget of $500, that was low compared to previous years.

Donor retrospective of the donation: The donation page says: "My $500 donation was therefore a corrective to what I perceived would be an imbalance in the way money would flow to the top charities, and a suspicion that AMF would end up raising more money than they could allocate in the short term. Both suspicions turned out to be true" and links to https://blog.givewell.org/2013/03/12/givewell-annual-review-for-2012-details-on-givewells-money-moved-and-web-traffic/ and https://www.givewell.org/charities/AMF/2013-review
The Seasteading Institute520.00132011-05-31Alternate governance/seasteadinghttps://vipulnaik.com/donation-history/Donor initiative Donation process: According to the donation page: "On April 30, 2011, I sent an email to The Seasteading Institute expressing interest in making a donation and asking some questions. I had further email back-and-forth in the thread with Randolph Hencken of the Seasteading Institute, as well as a long phone conversation."

Intended use of funds (category): Organizational general support

Intended use of funds: Funds to be used by The Seasteading Institute for its general purpose of promoting seasteading

Donor reason for selecting the donee: The donation page says: "My interest in The Seasteading Institute began with my general interest in alternate governance and experimentation in government; I learned of seasteading as part of the general cluster of ideas and work financed by Peter Thiel. [...] I found The Seasteading Institute's work generally interesting, but was not totally convinced that they should get a large donation."

Donor reason for donating that amount (rather than a bigger or smaller amount): The donation page says: "I found The Seasteading Institute's work generally interesting, but was not totally convinced that they should get a large donation. I made my $520 donation on May 31, 2011 primarily as a form of compensation for the effort that they put into answering my questions and connecting me with other resources. I computed the $520 amount as $500 + an estimated transaction overhead of $20."
VillageReach5,100.0022010-12-22Global health/vaccinationhttps://vipulnaik.com/donation-history/GiveWell Donation process: According to https://blog.givewell.org/2011/08/05/guest-post-from-vipul-naik/ "In October 2010, I returned to considering VillageReach for my next donation. I talked over the phone with Holden of GiveWell. I shared some concerns: [...] Holden addressed my questions, and, shortly thereafter, GiveWell elaborated further in the blog posts https://blog.givewell.org/2010/11/10/health-system-strengthening-sustainability-accountability/ and https://blog.givewell.org/2010/11/17/after-extraordinary-and-unorthodox-comes-the-valley-of-death/ "

Intended use of funds (category): Organizational general support

Intended use of funds: Funding for VillageReach's work of last-mile delivery of vaccines

Donor reason for selecting the donee: https://blog.givewell.org/2011/08/05/guest-post-from-vipul-naik/ says: "I was reasonably convinced that low-income country health systems was low-hanging fruit for donor money. The approach of GiveWell's top charity VillageReach (GiveWell review here) impressed me." Further: "Holden addressed my questions [about VillageReach and GiveWell's review of it]"

Donor reason for donating at this time (rather than earlier or later): The donation is explained as being a straightforward, relatively low-risk donation made after exhausting a budget for a high-risk, speculative donation, as per https://blog.givewell.org/2011/08/05/guest-post-from-vipul-naik/ "[I]n September 2010, I made a donation covering part of the costs of a new research project [...] However, such opportunities are rare and inherently risky. In October 2010, I returned to considering VillageReach for my next donation."

Donor thoughts on making further donations to the donee: According to https://blog.givewell.org/2011/08/05/guest-post-from-vipul-naik/ "I talked over the phone with VillageReach employee John Beale about VillageReach's activities, to help me in future donation decisions." and "I planned to make my next donation in April 2011 [contingent on GiveWell updates]"

Donor retrospective of the donation: As https://blog.givewell.org/2011/08/05/guest-post-from-vipul-naik/ explains, the donor ultimately did not continue supporting VillageReach. The planned April 2011 support was not given. The donor said that either of two things would have convinced him to donate, but neither seemed to hold: "(1) [VillageReach] could deliver demonstrably greater benefits by rolling out their program much more quickly, and they could do so by getting funding more quickly. (2) GiveWell could identify other top charities so that, once VillageReach's funding gap was closed, other donors could donate instead to these other top charities."

Other notes: See more of the thought process behind the donation at https://blog.givewell.org/2011/08/05/guest-post-from-vipul-naik/ Also, https://vipulnaik.com/donation-history/ says: "This was my first time making such a large donation using my debit card. Predictably, it led to some back-and-forth with the bank because the transaction was initially blocked for security reasons. I later realized that it would have been better to use a check or ACH, as it would have saved on something in the range of $100+ in transaction fees, while also reducing the need for back-and-forth with the bank.".
Undisclosed recipient7,500.0012010-09Education/low-cost private education in developing worldhttps://vipulnaik.com/donation-history/Donor initiative
VillageReach2,000.0082010-05-22Global health/vaccinationhttps://vipulnaik.com/donation-history/GiveWell
VillageReach1,250.00102010-01-16Global health/vaccinationhttps://vipulnaik.com/donation-history/GiveWell
Children International660.00122010--https://vipulnaik.com/donation-history/Street sales Sponsorship of fifteen children at $22/month for two months (January and February) before cancellation in order to donate to GiveWell-recommended charity VillageReach.
Children International3,388.0052009--https://vipulnaik.com/donation-history/Street sales Sponsorship of five children at $22/month for the whole year,sponsorship of two children at $22/month for 11 months,and sponsorship of 8 children at $22/month for 9 months.
Children International500.00142009--https://vipulnaik.com/donation-history/Street sales Total of 20 $25 gifts to sponsored children across the year.
Grameen Foundation25.00212008-05-18--https://vipulnaik.com/donation-history/--
Creative Commons25.00212008-03-20--https://vipulnaik.com/donation-history/Direct online solicitation
Wikimedia Foundation100.00202008-02-22--https://vipulnaik.com/donation-history/--
Mozilla Foundation15.00242008-01-19--https://vipulnaik.com/donation-history/Direct online solicitation
PlanetMath.org10.00252008-01-05--https://vipulnaik.com/donation-history/Direct online solicitation
Children International462.00182008--https://vipulnaik.com/donation-history/Street sales Total of two $22 child sponsorships for six months,two $22 child sponsorships for four months,and one $22 child sponsorship for one month. Note that there is a discrepancy with the receipt notice from Children International that only gives a total of $418.
Children International125.00192008--https://vipulnaik.com/donation-history/Street sales Total of five $25 gifts to sponsored children.
Wikimedia Foundation25.00212007-10-23--https://vipulnaik.com/donation-history/Direct online solicitation

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