Effective Altruism Grants donations made (filtered to cause areas matching Effective altruism)

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 Kingdom
Affiliated organizations (current or former; restricted to potential donees or others relevant to donation decisions)Centre for Effective Altruism
Best overview URLhttp://effective-altruism.com/ea/1fc/effective_altruism_grants_project_update/
Websitehttps://www.effectivealtruism.org/grants/
Donations URLhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iBy--zMyIiTgybYRUQZIm11WKGQZcixaCmIaysRmGvk
Regularity with which donor updates donations datairregular
Regularity with which Donations List Website updates donations data (after donor update)irregular
Lag with which donor updates donations datamonths
Lag with which Donations List Website updates donations data (after donor update)days
Data entry method on Donations List WebsiteSQL insertion commands generated by script https://github.com/riceissa/ea-grants-processing

Brief history: Effective Altruism Grants (EA Grants for short) are a successor to Effective Altruism Ventures (see http://effective-altruism.com/ea/1b5/announcing_effective_altruism_grants/ for the announcement post). The first batch of EA Grants was publicly announced at the end of September 2017, totaling about £369,924 (with the remainder up to a total of £500,000 reserved for additional grants to recipients). In https://www.centreforeffectivealtruism.org/blog/cea-s-2017-review-and-2018-plans/ it was announced that EA Grants was moving to a rolling basis for urgent grants and a quarterly frequency of review for less urgent grants

Brief notes on broad donor philosophy and major focus areas: Focus is on filling funding gaps in grants for individuals pursuing early-stage but high-value projects

Notes on grant decision logistics: For 2017, applications had to be made before a deadline. Of the 722 applications received, 413 (57%) were rejected. The second round involved taking the remaining applications and assessing applicants based on their track record, values, and plans. This assessment adhered to a rubric, weighting each category in accordance with its predictive power for project success. 63 candidates passed this round and had three 10-minute interviews, and 22 of them were selected. However, EA Grants is moving in 2018 to a rolling basis for urgent grants and a quarterly basis for other grants, according to https://www.centreforeffectivealtruism.org/blog/cea-s-2017-review-and-2018-plans/

Notes on grant publication logistics: For 2017, all grants were published in a spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iBy--zMyIiTgybYRUQZIm11WKGQZcixaCmIaysRmGvk but the long-term plan for sharing grants data is not clear

Notes on grant financing: The £500,000 budget for the first year of Effective Altruism Grants was part of the Centre for Effective Altruism budget, and the costs are covered by the Open Philanthropy grant https://www.openphilanthropy.org/giving/grants/centre-effective-altruism-general-support and a couple of other private donors, as described at http://effective-altruism.com/ea/1fc/effective_altruism_grants_project_update/

Donor donation statistics

Cause areaCountMedianMeanMinimum10th percentile 20th percentile 30th percentile 40th percentile 50th percentile 60th percentile 70th percentile 80th percentile 90th percentile Maximum
Overall 9 19,708 26,356 887 887 1,608 11,824 19,708 19,708 26,796 36,945 59,112 60,615 60,615
Effective altruism 9 19,708 26,356 887 887 1,608 11,824 19,708 19,708 26,796 36,945 59,112 60,615 60,615

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 2017
Effective altruism (filter this donor) 9 9 237,203.57 237,203.57
Total 9 9 237,203.57 237,203.57

Skipping spending graph as there is at most one year’s worth of donations.

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 2017
Effective altruism/movement growth 9 9 237,203.57 237,203.57
Classified total 9 9 237,203.57 237,203.57
Unclassified total 0 0 0.00 0.00
Total 9 9 237,203.57 237,203.57

Skipping spending graph as there is at most one year’s worth of donations.

Donation amounts by donee and year

Donee Cause area Metadata Total 2017
Theron Pummer (filter this donor) 60,615.23 60,615.23
Duncan Sabien (filter this donor) 59,111.98 59,111.98
John Salvatier (filter this donor) 36,944.99 36,944.99
Adam Shriver (filter this donor) 26,796.00 26,796.00
Effective Altruism Seattle (filter this donor) 19,708.46 19,708.46
Sentience Institute (filter this donor) Animal welfare FB Tw Site 19,708.46 19,708.46
Eric Gastfriend (filter this donor) 11,823.74 11,823.74
Accalia Chandler Jay (filter this donor) 1,607.76 1,607.76
Brian Tse (filter this donor) 886.95 886.95
Total -- -- 237,203.57 237,203.57

Skipping spending graph as there is at most one year’s worth of donations.

Donation amounts by influencer and year

Sorry, we couldn't find any influencer information.

Donation amounts by disclosures and year

Sorry, we couldn't find any disclosures information.

Donation amounts by country and year

Sorry, we couldn't find any country information.

Full list of documents in reverse chronological order (3 documents)

Title (URL linked)Publication dateAuthorPublisherAffected donorsAffected doneesAffected influencersDocument scopeCause areaNotes
Giving What We Can & EA Funds now operate independently of CEA (GW, IR)2020-12-21Max Dalton Jonas Vollmer Luke Freemaan Effective Altruism ForumEffective Altruism Funds: Effective Altruism Infrastructure Fund Effective Altruism Funds: Long-Term Future Fund Effective Altruism Funds: Animal Welfare Fund Effective Altruism Funds: Global Health and Development Fund Effective Altruism Grants Giving What We Can Effective Altruism Funds: Effective Altruism Infrastructure Fund Effective Altruism Funds: Long-Term Future Fund Effective Altruism Funds: Animal Welfare Fund Effective Altruism Funds: Global Health and Development Fund Giving What We Can Status changeAnimal welfare|Global health and development|AI safety|Global catastrophic risks|Effective altruism|LongtermismThis cross-post of https://www.centreforeffectivealtruism.org/blog/giving-what-we-can-and-ea-funds-now-operate-independently-of-cea/ announces that Giving What We Can (GWWC), operated by Luke Freeman, and the Effective Altruism Funds (EA Funds), operated by Jonas Vollmer, are now operated independent of the Centre for Effective Altruism. Also, Effective Altruism Grants (EA Grants) is now fully closed. The plan to close it had been announced in April 2020 at https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/SX6vKhRQsFj8AjYrM/brief-update-on-ea-grants (GW, IR) but some existing grant commitments needed to be honored before fully closing the program out. The post includes growth, retention, and content plans for GWWC, and donor satisfaction, donation, and grantmaking data for EA Funds.
Which Community Building Projects Get Funded? (GW, IR)2019-11-13Anonymous Effective Altruism Grants Effective Altruism Community Building Grants Effective Altruism Funds: Effective Altruism Infrastructure Fund Review of current state of cause areaEffective altruism/movement growthThe blog post is written by an anonymous author who "unsuccessfully attempted to get funding through one or more of the channels discussed below and could potentially benefit from changes to these grantmaking processes." The post says: "I show that all three of these grantmaking channels use processes that implicitly or explicitly restrict the number and type of CB projects that are considered. The outcome of these processes have been grants that primarily fund CB projects in close geographical proximity to the grantmakers." The post includes a lot of data on geographic distribution of grantees of EA Community Building Grants (CBG), EA Grants, and the EA Meta Fund, and it attracts a lot of comments discussion.
CEA’s 2017 Review and 2018 Plans2017-12-18Larissa Hesketh-Rowe Centre for Effective AltruismEffective Altruism Grants Centre for Effective Altruism Donee periodic updateEffective altruism/movement growthThe Centre for Effective Altruism reports on its progress in 2017 and describes its plans for 2018. It posts its org chart, describing the five teams (Individual Outreach, Community, Research, Tech, and Operations, and describes the progress and plans for each of the teams. Cross-posted to the Effective Altruism Forum at http://effective-altruism.com/ea/1ir/centre_for_effective_altruism_cea_2017_review_and/

Full list of donations in reverse chronological order (9 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 9)Donation dateCause areaURLInfluencerNotes
Accalia Chandler Jay1,607.7682017-09-29Effective altruism/movement growthhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iBy--zMyIiTgybYRUQZIm11WKGQZcixaCmIaysRmGvk-- The founding of a Critical Thinking Society at Cambridge University that will provide rationality discussion workshops to Cambridge students. If this work goes well, they are considering having Cambridge students run rationality workshops at other schools and creating an evidence base for teaching rationality skills in the classroom. See http://effective-altruism.com/ea/1fc/effective_altruism_grants_project_update/ for more context about the grant program. Currency info: donation given as 1,200.00 GBP (conversion done on 2017-09-29 via Bloomberg).
Adam Shriver26,796.0042017-09-29Effective altruism/movement growthhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iBy--zMyIiTgybYRUQZIm11WKGQZcixaCmIaysRmGvk-- A systematic review of pain researchers’ and philosophers’ attempts to define and explain the unpleasantness of pain, resulting in a publication and a detailed empirical research plan for resolving central questions. See http://effective-altruism.com/ea/1fc/effective_altruism_grants_project_update/ for more context about the grant program. Currency info: donation given as 20,000.00 GBP (conversion done on 2017-09-29 via Bloomberg).
Brian Tse886.9592017-09-29Effective altruism/movement growthhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iBy--zMyIiTgybYRUQZIm11WKGQZcixaCmIaysRmGvk-- Research into EA messaging tactics and career options in China. He hopes to facilitate bringing others in China into the space, using the lessons learned by EA groups in other regions. See http://effective-altruism.com/ea/1fc/effective_altruism_grants_project_update/ for more context about the grant program. Currency info: donation given as 662.00 GBP (conversion done on 2017-09-29 via Bloomberg).
Duncan Sabien59,111.9822017-09-29Effective altruism/movement growthhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iBy--zMyIiTgybYRUQZIm11WKGQZcixaCmIaysRmGvk-- The development of a rationality, agency, and EA-values education program for promising 12-14 year olds, either in a three-week camp format or as a year-long curriculum to be tested in a private or charter school. Early work available here: http://thirdfoundation.github.io/#/writing/camp See http://effective-altruism.com/ea/1fc/effective_altruism_grants_project_update/ for more context about the grant program. Currency info: donation given as 44,120.00 GBP (conversion done on 2017-09-29 via Bloomberg).
Eric Gastfriend11,823.7472017-09-29Effective altruism/movement growthhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iBy--zMyIiTgybYRUQZIm11WKGQZcixaCmIaysRmGvk-- The Philanthropy Advising Fellowship, run by Harvard University Effective Altruism Student Group. They recruit and train Harvard grad students to advise philanthropists on how to have the most impact with their charitable dollars. See http://effective-altruism.com/ea/1fc/effective_altruism_grants_project_update/ for more context about the grant program. Currency info: donation given as 8,825.00 GBP (conversion done on 2017-09-29 via Bloomberg).
Effective Altruism Seattle (Earmark: Finan Adamson)19,708.4652017-09-29Effective altruism/movement growthhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iBy--zMyIiTgybYRUQZIm11WKGQZcixaCmIaysRmGvk-- Nine months of community building via the Seattle EA group. This includes doing workshops, presentations, events, and operations, as well as doing writing and research as a means of connecting the Seattle community with EA organizations. See http://effective-altruism.com/ea/1fc/effective_altruism_grants_project_update/ for more context about the grant program. Currency info: donation given as 14,710.00 GBP (conversion done on 2017-09-29 via Bloomberg).
John Salvatier36,944.9932017-09-29Effective altruism/movement growthhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iBy--zMyIiTgybYRUQZIm11WKGQZcixaCmIaysRmGvk-- Research on the underlying models and methods he uses to resolve disagreements between individuals with large inferential gaps. He will develop lessons to transfer these to test students, and see what skills are transferred and what skills still lack. See http://effective-altruism.com/ea/1fc/effective_altruism_grants_project_update/ for more context about the grant program. Currency info: donation given as 27,575.00 GBP (conversion done on 2017-09-29 via Bloomberg).
Sentience Institute (Earmark: Kelly Witwicki)19,708.4652017-09-29Effective altruism/movement growthhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iBy--zMyIiTgybYRUQZIm11WKGQZcixaCmIaysRmGvk-- Research on moral circle expansion. The work will take place at the Sentience Institute, and serve as a proof-of-concept of the cost-effectiveness of such research. Research agenda available here: www.sentienceinstitute.org/research-agenda See http://effective-altruism.com/ea/1fc/effective_altruism_grants_project_update/ for more context about the grant program. Currency info: donation given as 14,710.00 GBP (conversion done on 2017-09-29 via Bloomberg).
Theron Pummer60,615.2312017-09-29Effective altruism/movement growthhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iBy--zMyIiTgybYRUQZIm11WKGQZcixaCmIaysRmGvk-- Two or more of the following: (1) a 250 page research book on the road from Parfit’s metaphysics to impersonal ethics, (2) a 125 page intro-level textbook on EA and ethics, (3) two articles on pro-EA non-consequentialist views, (4) several popular pieces on EA. The grant will cover a teaching buyout and a research assistant to help expedite his work. See http://effective-altruism.com/ea/1fc/effective_altruism_grants_project_update/ for more context about the grant program. Currency info: donation given as 45,242.00 GBP (conversion done on 2017-09-29 via Bloomberg).

Similarity to other donors

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