| Suggestions for Individual Donors from Open Philanthropy Project Staff - 2018 | 2018-12-20 | Holden Karnofsky | Open Philanthropy Project | Chloe Cockburn Lewis Bollard Amanda Hungerford Alexander Berger Luke Muelhhauser | National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls Texas Organizing Project Effective Altruism Funds The Humane League Center for Global Development International Refugee Assistance Project Donor lottery | Donation suggestion list | Open Philanthropy Project staff give suggestions on places that might be good for individuals to donate to. Each suggestion includes a section "Why I suggest it", a section explaining why the Open Philanthropy Project has not funded (or not fully funded) the opportunity, and links to relevant writeups. The post continues a tradition of similar posts published once a year |
| Update on Partnerships with External Donors | 2018-05-16 | Holden Karnofsky | Open Philanthropy Project | Open Philanthropy Project Future Justice Fund Accountable Justice Action Fund Effective Altruism Funds | Accountable Justice Action Fund Effective Altruism Funds | Miscellaneous commentary | The Open Philanthropy Project describes how it works with donors other than Good Ventures (the foundation under Dustin Moskovitz and Cari Tuna that accounts for almost all Open Phil grantmaking). The blog post reiterates that the long-term goal is to inform many different funders, but that is not a short-term priority because the Open Philanthropy Project is not moving enoguh money to even achieve the total spend that Good Ventures is willing to go up to. The post mentions that Chloe Cockburn, the program officer for criminal justice reform, is working with other funders in criminal justice reform, and they have created a separate vehicle, the Accountable Justice Action Fund, to pool resources. Also, Mike and Kaitlyn Krieger, who previously worked with the Open Philanthropy Project, now have their own criminal justice-focused Future Justice Fund, and are getting help from Cockburn to allocate money from the fund. For causes outside of criminal justice reform, the role of Effective Altruism Funds (whose grantmaking is managed by Open Philanthropy Project staff members) is mentioned. Also, Lewis Bollard is said to have moved ~10% as much money through advice to other donors as he has moved through the Open Philanthropy Project |
| Hi, I'm Holden Karnofsky. AMA about jobs at Open Philanthropy | 2018-03-26 | Holden Karnofsky | Effective Altruism Forum | Open Philanthropy Project | | Job advertisement | Holden Karnofsky opens himself up to questions about what it is like to work at the Open Philanthropy Project. This is part of a concerted push by Open Phil to increase its number of research analysts |
| The world’s most intellectual foundation is hiring. Holden Karnofsky, founder of GiveWell, on how philanthropy can have maximum impact by taking big risks. | 2018-02-27 | Robert Wiblin Kieran Harris Holden Karnofsky | 80,000 Hours | Open Philanthropy Project | | Broad donor strategy | This interview, with full transcript, is an episode of the 80,000 Hours podcast. In the interview, Karnofsky provides an overview of the cause prioritization and grantmaking strategy of the Open Philanthropy Project, and also notes that the Open Philanthropy Project is hiring for a number of positions |
| New Job Opportunities | 2018-02-14 | Holden Karnofsky | Open Philanthropy Project | Open Philanthropy Project | | Job advertisement | Holden Karnofsky links to job opening pages for generalist Research Analyst and Senior Research Analyst roles, specialized roles related to AI risk, roles such as Grants Associate, Operations Associate, and General Counsel, and the Director of Operations |
| Update on Cause Prioritization at Open Philanthropy | 2018-01-26 | Holden Karnofsky | Open Philanthropy Project | Open Philanthropy Project | | Broad donor strategy | This very long blog post describes how the Open Philanthropy Project currently views its trade-off between near-termist human welfare, near-termist animal welfare, and long-termism. It also discusses allocation to different causes within these broad cause types. It builds upon ideas discussed at http://www.openphilanthropy.org/blog/worldview-diversification and http://www.openphilanthropy.org/blog/good-ventures-and-giving-now-vs-later-2016-update |
| Suggestions for Individual Donors from Open Philanthropy Project Staff - 2017 | 2017-12-21 | Holden Karnofsky | Open Philanthropy Project | Jaime Yassif Chloe Cockburn Lewis Bollard Nick Beckstead Daniel Dewey | Center for International Security and Cooperation Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security Good Call Court Watch NOLA Compassion in World Farming USA Wild-Animal Suffering Research Effective Altruism Funds Donor lottery Future of Humanity Institute Center for Human-Compatible AI Machine Intelligence Research Institute Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative Centre for Effective Altruism 80,000 Hours Alliance to Feed the Earth in Disasters | Donation suggestion list | Open Philanthropy Project staff give suggestions on places that might be good for individuals to donate to. Each suggestion includes a section "Why I suggest it", a section explaining why the Open Philanthropy Project has not funded (or not fully funded) the opportunity, and links to relevant writeups |
| Staff Members’ Personal Donations for Giving Season 2017 | 2017-12-18 | Holden Karnofsky | Open Philanthropy Project | Holden Karnofsky Alexander Berger Nick Beckstead Helen Toner Claire Zabel Lewis Bollard Ajeya Cotra Morgan Davis Michael Levine | GiveWell top charities GiveWell GiveDirectly EA Giving Group Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative Effective Altruism Funds Sentience Institute Encompass The Humane League The Good Food Institute Mercy For Animals Compassion in World Farming USA Animal Equality Donor lottery Against Malaria Foundation GiveDirectly | Periodic donation list documentation | Open Philanthropy Project staff members describe where they are donating this year, and the considerations that went into the donation decision. By policy, amounts are not disclosed. This is the first standalone blog post of this sort by the Open Philanthropy Project; in previous years, the corresponding donations were documented in the GiveWell staff members donation post |
| The Open Philanthropy Project Is Now an Independent Organization | 2017-06-12 | Holden Karnofsky | Open Philanthropy Project | Open Philanthropy Project Good Ventures | | Status change | The Open Philanthropy Project announces that it is now a separate entity from GiveWell, and that it has incorporated as a LLC. The change was effective 2017-06-01. See https://blog.givewell.org/2017/06/12/separating-givewell-open-philanthropy-project/ for the complementary post on the GiveWell blog |
| Good Ventures and Giving Now vs. Later (2016 Update) | 2016-12-28 | Holden Karnofsky | Open Philanthropy Project | Good Ventures/GiveWell top and standout charities | GiveWell top charities Against Malaria Foundation Schistosomiasis Control Initiative Deworm the World Initiative GiveDirectly Malaria Consortium Sightsavers END Fund Development Media International Food Fortification Initiative Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition Iodine Global Network Living Goods Project Healthy Children | Reasoning supplement | Explanation of reasoning that led to $50 million allocation to GiveWell top charities |
| Suggestions for Individual Donors from Open Philanthropy Project Staff - 2016 | 2016-12-14 | Holden Karnofsky | Open Philanthropy Project | Jaime Yassif Chloe Cockburn Lewis Bollard Daniel Dewey Nick Beckstead | Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense Alliance for Safety and Justice Cosecha Animal Charity Evaluators Compassion in World Farming USA Machine Intelligence Research Institute Future of Humanity Institute 80,000 Hours Ploughshares Fund | Donation suggestion list | Open Philanthropy Project staff describe suggestions for best donation opportunities for individual donors in their specific areas |
| Worldview Diversification | 2016-12-13 | Holden Karnofsky | Open Philanthropy Project | Open Philanthropy Project | | Broad donor strategy | The blog post discusses the challenge of comparing donation opportunities in very different cause areas, and the importance of relying on a diversity of worldviews to inform grantmaking strategy |
| Staff members’ personal donations for giving season 2016 | 2016-12-09 | Natalie Crispin | GiveWell | Elie Hassenfeld Holden Karnofsky Natalie Crispin Alexander Berger Timothy Telleen-Lawton Josh Rosenberg Rebecca Raible Helen Toner Sophie Monahan Laura Muñoz Catherine Hollander Andrew Martin Lewis Bollard Chelsea Tabart Sarah Ward Chris Somerville Ajeya Cotra Chris Smith Isabel Arjmand | A political campaign GiveWell top charities International Genetically Engineered Machine Foundation UPMC Center for Health Security Donor lottery EA Giving Group GiveDirectly Center for Applied Rationality Malaria Consortium Animal Charity Evaluators Northwest Health Law Advocates StrongMinds Against Malaria Foundation Schistosomiasis Control Initiative The Humane Society of the United States The Humane League Mercy For Animals Humane Society International Compassion in World Farming USA The Good Food Institute Citizens for Farm Animal Protection END Fund Causa Justa Planned Parenthood International Refugee Assistance Project | Periodic donation list documentation | GiveWell and Open Philanthropy Project staff describe their annual donation plans for 2016. Some of these are tentative and get superseded by further events. Also, not all employees are present in the document (participation is optional). Amounts donated are not included, per a decision by GiveWell |
| Potential Risks from Advanced Artificial Intelligence: The Philanthropic Opportunity | 2016-05-06 | Holden Karnofsky | Open Philanthropy Project | Open Philanthropy Project | | Review of current state of cause area | In this blog post that that the author says took him over over 70 hours to write (See https://www.openphilanthropy.org/blog/update-how-were-thinking-about-openness-and-information-sharing for the statistic), Holden Karnofsky explains the position of the Open Philanthropy Project on the potential risks and opportunities from AI, and why they are making funding in the area a priority |
| Suggestions for individual donors from Open Philanthropy Project staff | 2015-12-23 | Holden Karnofsky | Open Philanthropy Project | Chloe Cockburn Lewis Bollard Alexander Berger Nick Beckstead Howie Lempel | Alliance for Safety and Justice Bronx Freedom Fund The Humane League The Humane Society of the United States Center for Global Development Center for Popular Democracy Ploughshares Fund | Donation suggestion list | Open Philanthropy Project staff describe suggestions for best donation opportunities for individual donors in their specific areas. The post was originally published to the GiveWell blog |
| Staff members’ personal donations for giving season 2015 | 2015-12-09 | Elie Hassenfeld | GiveWell | Elie Hassenfeld Holden Karnofsky Natalie Crispin Alexander Berger Timothy Telleen-Lawton Sean Conley Josh Rosenberg Jake Marcus Rebecca Raible Milan Griffes Helen Toner Sophie Monahan Laura Muñoz Catherine Hollander Andrew Martin Claire Zabel Nicole Ross Lewis Bollard | GiveWell top charities Against Malaria Foundation GiveWell GiveDirectly Wikimedia Foundation Center for Global Development Martha’s Table Country Dance and Song Society Northwest Health Law Advocates Mercy For Animals The Humane League Animal Charity Evaluators Raising for Effective Giving Humane Society of te United States | Periodic donation list documentation | GiveWell and Open Philanthropy Project staff describe their annual donation plans for 2015. Some of these are tentative and get superseded by further events. Also, not all employees are present in the document (participation is optional). Amounts donated are not included, per a decision by GiveWell |
| Incoming Program Officer: Lewis Bollard | 2015-09-11 | Holden Karnofsky | Open Philanthropy Project | Open Philanthropy Project | | Broad donor strategy | Open Philanthropy Project announces that it is hiring Lewis Bollard, poaching him from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) via a referral from Howie Lempel. Bollard would direct tens of millions of dollars in funding in the area over the next few years, including massive spend on corporate cage-free campaigns in the United States and internationally. The post was originally published on the GiveWell blog at https://blog.givewell.org/2015/09/11/incoming-program-officer-lewis-bollard/ and has 6 comments there |
| Incoming Program Officer for Criminal Justice Reform: Chloe Cockburn | 2015-06-16 | Holden Karnofsky | Open Philanthropy Project | Open Philanthropy Project | | Broad donor strategy | The post notes that the Open Philanthropy Project is hiring Chloe Cockburn as the Program Officer in criminal justice reform, poaching her from the American Civil Liberties Union. Cockburn would direct tens of millions of dollars in funding in criminal justice reform over the next few years. The post was originally published on the GiveWell blog at https://blog.givewell.org/2015/06/16/incoming-program-officer-for-criminal-justice-reform-chloe-cockburn/ and has 5 comemnts there |
| Open Philanthropy Project Update: U.S. Policy | 2015-03-10 | Holden Karnofsky | Open Philanthropy Project | Open Philanthropy Project | | Broad donor strategy | Originally published on the GiveWell blog at https://blog.givewell.org/2015/03/10/open-philanthropy-project-update-u-s-policy/ where comments can still be found. This is an annual update on where the Open Philanthropy Project stands on its investigation of United States policy issues. Some of the cause areas covered under what they call United States policy would later include grants to outside the United States (in particular, animal welfare), while others, such as criminal justice reform and macroeconomic stabilization policy, would remain within the United States |
| Thoughts on the Sandler Foundation | 2015-02-24 | Holden Karnofsky | Open Philanthropy Project | Sandler Foundation Open Philanthropy Project | Center for American Progress ProPublica Center for Responsible Lending Washington Center for Equitable Growth Center on Budget and Policy Priorities | Third-party coverage of donor strategy | This blog post originally appeared on the GiveWell blog at https://blog.givewell.org/2015/02/24/thoughts-on-the-sandler-foundation/ prior to the Open Phil blog launch. The post is part of Open Phil research into how different foundations structure their operations and giving. The post covers the Sandler Foundation, which has an unusual giving model, sacrificing cause-specific, domain-expert "program officers" and instead having a small staff that would opportunistically shift between researching different giving opportunities. Successes of the Sandler Foundation were noted, including forming the Center for American Progress, ProPublica, Center for Responsible Lending, and Washington Center for Equitable Growth, and providing support to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The Sandler Foundation approach was described as follows: (1) The priority placed on funding strong leadership, (2) A high level of “opportunism”: being ready to put major funding or no funding behind an idea, depending on the quality of the specific opportunity. Ultimately, the post concluded that Open Phil would probably stick with the more standard program officer model and including a mix of larger and smaller grants. Reasons given were: (a) Open Phil's policy priorities mapped less clearly to existing political platforms than the Sandler Foundation's, so it would be harder to find fully aligned leaders, (b) Open Phil sees a good deal of value in relatively small, low-confidence, low-due-diligence grants that give a person/team a chance to “get an idea off the ground.” We’ve made multiple such grants to date and we plan on continuing to do so, (c) confidence in the Sandler Foundation's track record was not very high. However, Open Phil might experiment with using generalist staff in addition to program officers; the generalists would scan across issues to find and vet opportunities |
| Staff members’ personal donations – giving season 2014 | 2014-12-17 | Holden Karnofsky | GiveWell | Elie Hassenfeld Holden Karnofsky Natalie Crispin Alexander Berger Eliza Scheffler Timothy Telleen-Lawton Josh Rosenberg Ben Rachbach Jake Marcus Rebecca Raible Milan Griffes Tyler Heishman | GiveWell top charities Against Malaria Foundation Schistosomiasis Control Initiative Deworm the World Initiative GiveWell standout charities | Periodic donation list documentation | GiveWell staff describe their annual donation plans for 2014. Some of these are tentative and get superseded by further events. Also, not all employees are present in the document (participation is optional). Amounts donated are not included, per a decision by GiveWell |
| Potential U.S. Policy Focus Areas | 2014-05-29 | Holden Karnofsky | Open Philanthropy Project | Open Philanthropy Project | | Broad donor strategy | The blog post reviews the current understanding of the Open Philanthropy Project of various cause areas that they are considering for their grantmaking. They break up the cause areas discussed as: Windows of opportunity: outstanding tractability (i.e., "the time is right"), Ambitious longshots: outstanding importance, and Green fields: outstanding "room for more philanthropy". Other causes of interest (that do not neatly fit into one of these boxes) are also discussed |
| GiveWell Labs - Progress in 2013 and Plans for 2014 | 2014-03-05 | Holden Karnofsky | Open Philanthropy Project | Open Philanthropy Project | | Broad donor strategy | Originally published on the GiveWell blog at https://blog.givewell.org/2014/03/05/givewell-labs-progress-in-2013-and-plans-for-2014/ where comments can still be found. This is an annual update on the state of the Open Philanthropy Project, which, at the time, was called GiveWell Labs. It describes the areas that the Open Philanthropy Project plans to focus on, and the level of depth it plans to go into |
| Staff members’ personal donations | 2013-12-12 | Holden Karnofsky | GiveWell | Holden Karnofsky Elie Hassenfeld Alexander Berger Natalie Crispin Eliza Scheffler Timothy Telleen-Lawton Sean Conley Josh Rosenberg Ben Rachbach Howie Lempel Jake Marcus | GiveDirectly Mercy For Animals Schistosomiasis Control Initiative Against Malaria Foundation Deworm the World Initiative The Humane Society of the United States | Periodic donation list documentation | GiveWell staff describe their annual donation plans for 2013. Some of these are tentative and get superseded by further events. Also, not all employees are present in the document (participation is optional). Amounts donated are not included, per a decision by GiveWell |
| GiveWell’s top charities for giving season 2013 | 2013-12-01 | Holden Karnofsky | GiveWell | Good Ventures/GiveWell top and standout charities | Against Malaria Foundation GiveDirectly Schistosomiasis Control Initiative Deworm the World Initiative | Evaluator consolidated recommendation list | Against Malaria Foundation not in top charities list (it was in 2013) due to room for more funding issues. Good Ventures allocations not included in this post |
| Our top charities for the 2012 giving season | 2012-11-26 | Holden Karnofsky | GiveWell | | Against Malaria Foundation GiveDirectly Schistosomiasis Control Initiative | Evaluator consolidated recommendation list | GiveDirectly promoted from standout to top charity, other two charities same as for 2011 |
| Thoughts on the Singularity Institute (SI) | 2012-05-11 | Holden Karnofsky | LessWrong | | Machine Intelligence Research Institute | Evaluator review of donee | Post discussing reasons Holden Karnofsky, co-executive director of GiveWell, does not recommend the Singularity Institute (SI), the historical name for the Machine Intelligence Research Institute |
| Deciding between two outstanding charities | 2011-12-08 | Holden Karnofsky | GiveWell | | Against Malaria Foundation Schistosomiasis Control Initiative | Reasoning supplement | Provided more in-depth coverage of tradeoffs between the two top charities, supplementing the announcement post at https://blog.givewell.org/2011/11/29/top-charities-for-holiday-season-2011-against-malaria-foundation-and-schistosomiasis-control-initiative/ |
| Top charities for holiday season 2011: Against Malaria Foundation and Schistosomiasis Control Initiative | 2011-11-29 | Holden Karnofsky | GiveWell | | Against Malaria Foundation Schistosomiasis Control Initiative GiveDirectly Innovations for Poverty Action Nyaya Health Pratham Small Enterprise Foundation | Evaluator consolidated recommendation list | Against Malaria Foundation and Schistosomiasis Control Initiative were the top charities; the others were standouts |