One of the Highest-Impact Things You Can Do As A Student? Run an EA Group - Now Accepting Applications

TL;DR

Starting an Effective Altruism (EA) group might be one of the highest-impact opportunities available right now. Here’s how you can get involved:

• University students: Apply to the Centre for Effective Altruism’s Organiser Support Programme (OSP) by Sunday, June 22.
• City or national group organisers: You’re invited, too. See details here!
• Interested in mentorship? Apply to mentor organisers by Wednesday, June 18.
• Know someone who could be an organiser or mentor? Forward this post or recommend them directly.

OSP provides mentorship, workshops, funding support, and practical resources to build thriving EA communities.

Why Starting an EA Group Matters

EA Groups, especially university groups, are often the very first exposure people have to effective altruism principles such as scale, tractability, and neglectedness. One conversation, one fellowship, one book club - these seemingly small moments can reshape someone’s career trajectory.

Changing trajectories matters - even if one person changes course because of an EA group and ends up working in a high-impact role, the return on investment is huge.

You don’t need to take our word for it:

• 80,000 Hours: "Probably one of the highest-impact volunteer opportunities we know of."
• Rethink Priorities: Only 3–7% of students at universities have heard of EA, indicating neglectedness and a high potential to scale.
• Open Philanthropy: In a survey of 217 individuals identified as likely to have careers of particularly high altruistic value from a longtermist perspective, most respondents reported first encountering EA ideas during their college years. When asked what had contributed to their positive impact, local groups were cited most frequently on their list of biggest contributors. This indicates that groups play a very large role in changing career trajectories to high-impact roles.

About the Organiser Support Programme (OSP)

OSP is a remote programme by the Centre for Effective Altruism designed to help new and experienced organisers effectively launch and scale their groups. OSP provides:

• Personal mentorship and tailored feedback (average mentor satisfaction for our last round: 9.5/10).
• Optional five-month long mentorship for further support and accountability
• Interactive workshops, practical resources, and operational support.
• Connection to a global organiser network.

"I believe the group wouldn't even exist without OSP—and if it had, it would have been 5x less impactful." — João Lucas, past participant

OSP Spring ‘25 Kickoff

For new organisers, OSP aims to equip you with everything you need to run an EA group, and make organising achievable, accessible, and effective.

For continuing organisers, OSP aims to help you reach the next level - whether that’s by doubling the number of group members, running your first post-intro programming, or helping members find opportunities.

Application Deadlines

• Participants: Apply by Sunday, June 22
• Mentors: Apply by Wednesday, June 18

City and National Organisers: Though OSP is structured around the academic calendar, personalized mentorship remains highly relevant and valuable.

Help Spread the Word

• Forward this post to students, colleagues, or anyone potentially interested (50% of OSP participants hear about the programme through word of mouth!).
• Directly recommend someone here: Recommendation form.
• Interested in starting an AI-specific group? Explore the Fieldbuilder Support Programme from Kairos.