Topics in Need of Work
In the context of EA, Shapley values are a method for assigning credit for the impact of an intervention to each of a set of actors collaborating to make it happen. The concept of a Shapley value comes from cooperative game theory, where it is a general solution to the problem of distributing gains from cooperation. In impact assessment, it is often compared...
The fragile world hypothesis is the hypothesis that 'if technological development continues indefinitely, systemic fragility will increase to the point that the possibility of a shock sufficient for complete collapse approaches certainty.'[1]
Closely related to the concept of a 'global polycrisis':
...Established concepts, such as “systemic risk” (Renn 2016; Renn
Charity Entrepreneurship's Research Training Program aims to train aspiring researchers to rapidly produce high-quality decision-relevant research.
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Ambitious Impact | Research | Cause prioritization | Cause candidates
Far-UVC (also far-UV or far-UV-C) is light with a wavelength of 200–235 nm. It is a type of germicidal ultraviolet (GUV) light, which includes the whole UVC and parts of the UVB spectrum. Far-UVC has emerged as a highly promising approach to indoor air disinfection, offering enhanced effectiveness and safety compared to conventional 254 nm upper-room GUV systems...
The Open Philanthropy AI Worldviews Contest was a 2023 competition organized to surface novel considerations that could influence Open Philanthropy’s views on AI timelines and AI risk. A total of $225,000 in prize money was awarded across six winning entries. The contest served as the formal successor to a 2022 preannouncement and as a spiritual successor to...
The Unjournal is an organisation that works to organize and fund public journal-independent feedback, rating, and evaluation of hosted papers and dynamically-presented research projects. Their initial focus is on quantitative work that informs global priorities, especially in economics, policy, and social science. They aim to encourage better research by making...
Value erosion refers to a process by which competitive dynamics could eventually lead to "the proliferation of forms of life (countries, companies, autonomous AIs) which lock-in bad values", if those forms of life outcompete others (Dafoe, 2020).
Further reading
Dafoe, Allan (2019) Value erosion for FHI July 2019, July 25.
Bostrom, Nick (2004) The...
When human-level AI will emerge (AI timelines) is a consideration for both AI risk interventions and other interventions. For example, one's AI timelines affect how much to discount interventions that have a delayed effect.
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The Asymmetry is a view in population ethics stating that creating bad lives is morally bad, but creating good lives is not morally good. That is, there is an asymmetry between (i) the strong moral reason to avoid creating lives filled with suffering and (ii) the absence (or weakness) of a corresponding reason to create happy lives.
This asymmetry is often used...
This topic is for posts discussing Large Language Models (LLMs) -- for example, the GPT models produced by OpenAI.
Related Entries
AI safety | Artificial intelligence | AI governance | AI forecasting
Topic Voting Activity
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Recent Topic Activity
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- Saloni Dattani, Science Writer and co-founder of Works in Progress
- Tom Ough, Author of ‘The Anti-Catastrophe League’, Senior Editor at UnHerd
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All organisationsPosts from this week help potential donors understand which projects are welcome to take part. currently most constrained by funding, and how extra resources could increase their impact.
Participation in marginal funding weekMarginal Funding Week is open to all organisations working on impactful projects, regardless of cause area or size. It’s also one requirementa prerequisite for taking partinclusion in the Donation Election.
Election — organisations must post during this week to qualify.
In previous years, these posts have:
- Highlighted concrete, underfunded opportunities across multiple cause areas
- Helped donors compare the marginal value of additional funding between projects
- Led directly to tens of thousands of dollars in additional donations
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AFunding Strategy Week 2025 runs from November 10–16, as part of the Forum’s Giving Season 2025.
It’s a week for discussingexploring how individuals, organisations, and the EA community can make the most effective use of funding strategy,— broadly construed. defined. Contributors are encouraged to share practical lessons, analyses, and reflections on how to give, where to give, and how to think about funding strategy as a whole.
What to write about
Funding strategy can include almost anything related to how resources flow toward doing the most good. Possible topics include:
How to give
- Strategy for small donors
- Whether to split your donations or focus on one thing
- Giving now vs. investing to give later
- Giving to tried-and-tested organisations vs. underrated or risky opportunities
- Donor lotteries, prizes, and other nonstandard funding mechanisms
Where to give
- Analyses of neglected or promising funding areas
- Insights from large donors or philanthropic intermediaries (e.g. Open Philanthropy, Founders Pledge)
- How high-net-worth individuals or EA-adjacent donors think about their giving
- Organisational perspectives on fundraising, runway, and diversification
How to think about funding strategy
- The role of diversification and funding circles
- Tradeoffs between high-upside and predictable giving
- How funding concentration shapes cause prioritisation across EA
- Stewardship of funds — e.g. frugality, reserves, and good financial management
Personal and empirical reflections
- Stories from earn-to-give professionals
- Case studies of donation decisions and their impact
- Data visualisations or summaries of EA donation trends (e.g. from the EA Survey or Giving What We Can data)
Funding Strategy Week often sets the tone for the rest of Giving Season, leading into Marginal Funding Week (Nov 17–23), when organisations outline their funding gaps, and the Donation Election, which invites Forum users to help direct real funds to high-impact charities.
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A seriesGiving Season 2025 runs from November 10th to December 31st, with a packed schedule of themed Forum events on the EA Forum, aimed at causing designed to inspire more and better donations,giving and reachingto reach new audiences.
This year’s series includes back-to-back weeks focused on funding strategy, marginal funding opportunities, and a new round of the Donation Election — followed by community weeks celebrating donors and sharing personal stories of giving.
Timeline
Overview
More details inLast year, Forum posts during Giving Season helped raise roughly $130,000–$150,000 for participating organisations. This year’s goal is to go further — supporting more donors, more conversations, and more cause-neutral analysis about where funding can do the most good.
Ways to take part
- Write or comment on posts tagged Funding Strategy Week or Marginal Funding Week
- The donation election fund is live and taking donations. You can see 2023's winners here, and 2024's here. CEA will be matching the first $5000 donated.
- Share your ownWhy I Donate story
- Join discussions or AMAs on effective giving
For full details, see the Giving Season 2025 announcement post. See also:
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- |
Marginal Funding WeekGiving Season (2024)
Giving Season 2024 will be runningran from November 4th to December 31st. The Forum will looklooked seasonably pretty, and we’ll runran several mini-events, including an interactive donation election, a marginal funding week, a donation celebration, and multiple AMAs.
‘Why I donate’ week is part of the EA Forum’s Giving Season 2025 lineup — a dedicated week (December 8–14) for posts exploring the personal and philosophical motivations behind giving. Forum users are encouraged to share reflections on how and why they give, whether that’s through individual donations, pledges, or broader commitments to effective altruism.
The week aims to make effective giving more visible and socially normal, highlighting diverse perspectives from across the community. GWWC will also be encouraging “Why I pledge” posts, and Toby will be encouraging some organisations to publish staff donation posts like this one.
It's also be great to interview/ host AMAs with some earning to give folks (like this, and this). If you are one of these people, or you would like to recommend one, message Toby.
Read more in the Giving Season 2025 announcement post.
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‘Why I donate’ week is part of the EA Forum’s Giving Season 2025 lineup — a dedicated week (December 8–14) for posts exploring the personal and philosophical motivations behind giving. Forum users are encouraged to share reflections on how and why they give, whether that’s through individual donations, pledges, or broader commitments to effective altruism.
The week aims to make effective giving more visible and socially normal, highlighting diverse perspectives from across the community. GWWC will also be encouraging “Why I pledge” posts, and Toby will be encouraging some organisations to publish staff donation posts like this one.
It's also be great to interview/ host AMAs with some earning to give folks (like this, and this). If you are one of these people, or you would like to recommend one, message Toby. ...
The EA Forum Donation Election 2025 runs during Giving Season (November–December 2025). Following the 2023 and 2024 formats, Forum users contribute to a shared fund and decide via ranked-choice voting which organisations receive the money.
To qualify for the election, organisations must:
- Post during Marginal Funding Week (Nov 17–23)
- Be a 501(c)(3) in the US, a registered UK charity, or fiscally sponsored by one
Only users with a Forum account created before the announcement post are eligible to vote.
CEA will match the first $5,000 donated to the fund. Donors who give $50 or more receive a bad animal drawing, and all donors get a temporary “I donated” flair.
The Donation Election is part of a broader Giving Season lineup, which includes:
- Funding Strategy Week (Nov 10–16) — discussion on funding diversification and community prioritisation
- Marginal Funding Week (Nov 17–23) — organisations outline their funding gaps
- Donation Election (Nov 24–Dec 7) — voting and debate on how to allocate the shared fund
- ‘Why I Donate’ Week (Dec 8–14) — posts and AMAs about personal giving motivations
- Donation Celebration Banner (Dec 15–EOY) — a frontpage space to share completed donations
Read the full announcement post for details.
Related entries
Giving Season (2025) | effective giving | donation choice | effective giving | diminishing returns | philanthropic coordination | philanthropic diversification | room for more funding | cost-effectiveness | cost-effectiveness analysis | impact assessment | earning to give
The EA Forum Donation Election 2025 runs during Giving Season (November–December 2025). Following the 2023 and 2024 formats, Forum users contribute to a shared fund and decide via ranked-choice voting which organisations receive the money.
To qualify for the election, organisations must:
- Post during Marginal Funding Week (Nov 17–23)
- Be a 501(c)(3) in the US, a registered UK charity, or fiscally sponsored by one
Only users with a Forum account created before the announcement post are eligible to vote....
A two-long series of events on the EA Forum, aimed at causing more and better donations, and reaching new audiences.
EA Funds is a spin-offin the process of themerging with Centre for Effective Altruism. Currently, four Funds exist:
Animal Welfare Fund | Effective Altruism Infrastructure Fund | Founders Pledge | Global Health and Development Fund | Long-Term Future Fund
During Marginal Funding Week (November 17 - 23), organisations post about their funding gaps, and what they could achieve with extra funding.
All organisations are welcome to take part. Participation in marginal funding week is also one requirement for taking part in the Donation Election.
If your organisation would like to take part and has not yet been invited, please message Toby Tremlett on the Forum.
During Marginal Funding Week (November 17 - 23), organisations post about their funding gaps, and what they could achieve with extra funding.
Posts from this week help potential donors understand which projects are currently most constrained by funding, and how extra resources could increase their impact.
Participation in Marginal Funding Week is open to all organisations working on impactful projects, regardless of cause area or size. It’s also a prerequisite for inclusion in the Donation Election — organisations must post during this week to qualify....
More details in the announcement post.
See also:
A week for discussing funding strategy, broadly construed.
Funding Strategy Week 2025 runs from November 10–16, as part of the Forum’s Giving Season 2025.
It’s a week for exploring how individuals, organisations, and the EA community can make the most effective use of funding — broadly defined. Contributors are encouraged to share practical lessons, analyses, and reflections on how to give, where to give, and how to think about funding strategy as a whole.
A two-long series of events on the EA Forum, aimed at causing more and better donations, and reaching new audiences.
| Dates | Nov 10-16 | Nov 17-23 | Nov 24-Dec 7 | Dec 8-14 | Dec 15-EOY |
| Event | Funding Strategy Week | Marginal Funding Week | Donation Election
| ‘Why I donate’ week | Donation Celebration Banner
|
More details in the announcement post.