All of CEEALAR's Comments + Replies
How The Centre for Enabling EA Learning and Research would use additional funding
The Centre for Enabling EA Learning and Research (CEEALAR) is a space for promising EAs to rapidly upskill, perform research, and work on charitable and entrepreneurial projects. We provide assistance at low cost to those seeking to do the most good through subsidising accommodation, organising a productive atmosphere, and fostering a strong EA community. We recently published a post announcing that we are funding constrained and looking to attract new donors over this giving ...
We are hiring for a full-time Operations Manager, please share with anyone you think may be interested: https://ceealar.org/job-operations-manager
To start mid-late February. £31,286 – £35,457 per year (full time, 40 hours a week).
We did put a fair bit of thinking into it! Open to suggestions, but they will have to be quick (our reapplication to the Charity Commission has been considerably delayed already. Note that the lawyer we consulted about our application liked the name).
Some concrete problems I see with your choice:
- The name of an organization should ideally consist of two or three main words, perhaps four if there are strong enough reasons. Yours has six.
- The acronym formed by the name should ideally be pronounceable and aesthetically pleasing. I'm not sure CEEALAR is pronounceable. I don't think it's pleasing.
- The rules for generating the acronym should ideally be consistent. Either all articles and prepositions are included (e.g. CFAR) or none are (e.g. CEA). In 'Centre for Enabling EA Learning and Res
I was thinking that you can always use a name that's different from the legal name. E.g., GiveWell's legal entity is called "The Clear Fund" but nobody cares/knows. Similarly, the Future of Humanity Institute has a "Centre for the Governance of AI" which isn't a separate legal entity. So it seems like the brand (and/or shorthand term) you use publicly is somewhat independent of the legal name.
Using the word "Hotel" is problematic as it's generally too associated with "for-profit" unfortunately. The other ideas you mention seem too generic; "Enabling EA Learning & Research" is a very concise summary of what we actually do. We didn't come up with anything better that was a pronounceable acronym.
The main reason for the change is to make it immediately obvious that we are a non-profit. The building is still called the Athena Hotel.
Missing karma scores added (and the rest updated for consistency - scores correct as of 8th Nov 2019).
The Project and Community Manager (or Community & Projects Manager) is a role that largely involves overseeing the EA-focused work being done at the Hotel, facilitating productivity and offering practical and strategic advice to guests, in order to help maximise the value of their work to the world.
Other tasks for this role include: answering email enquiries; video calls with applicants; coordinating with Trustees and Advisors to vet applicants; helping maintain community morale at a high level, and resolving conflict if it arises, in coordination with...
It's looking like we now have runway until the end of the year, thanks to you three and others who have donated in the last few days :) Will post a more detailed update (and update the fundraiser page) in the coming days.
With the charity structure we're setting up, charging cost price will also amount to a grant in the form of a partial subsidy. Charging anyone less than market rate (~double cost price) means they are a beneficiary of the charity. So in practice everyone will have to apply for a grant of free accommodation, board and stipend, and the amount given (total or partial subsidy) will depend on their need and merit.
Please read the posts linked to on eahotel.org/fundraiser (and as stated in the OP, we have more in the pipeline).
See also the totaliser on that page (will be updated soon) - total donations (in addition to those made founder Greg Colbourn) are currently ~£36k from >50 individuals, they have come through various means - the PayPal MoneyPool, GoFundMe, Patreon and privately).
UPDATE 6th Nov 2019: the fundraiser page has now been updated, and a histogram of donations added: https://eahotel.org/fundraiser/
Another idea: we'd be happy to offer a value-aligned significant donor a seat on our Board of Trustees (kind of like Holden Karnofsky and OpenAI, but on a smaller scale). Let us know if you'd like to discuss this with us.
We already have an honour-based system where people with an income or >24 months runway in savings are asked to pay cost price. We could perhaps tighten this up, but don't really want to end up with a system where people with very limited resources would feel obliged to pay and thus don't apply.
We have talked to people about this but it often comes down to the fact that even if they could hold the money for us, they'd only be able to give it to us if we get non-profit status (and this isn't a certainty).
Huh, maybe it's a UK thing? In my US / CA experience, you can get money (and offer tax deductions) from a fiscal sponsor even if you are not a non-profit.
"How might you get on a sustainable footing in terms of funding?" We're hopeful that within 2-5 years we could be sustained by alumni donating back amounts higher than their stay cost.
"Tax deductibility?" We're still in the process of trying to get a charity registered. This has ended up being a lot more complex and time-consuming than initially expected down to the uniqueness of our project. We do have some potential donors waiting on it, but again, we need funds to bridge the gap to getting charitable status (best case scenario: this could happen by the end of 2019).
Could you get a fiscal sponsor? I guess at this point it makes sense to just wait until the end of the year...
"What about EA Grants / EA Funds?" We are still talking to EA Grants and the EA Long Term Future Fund. They have one or two sticking points that we're hoping to resolve with their input. We need funds to bridge the gap in the mean time.
Hey all,
I'm the EA Grants evaluator. We don't usually comment publicly on reasons for not granting to something, but Greg gave us permission and encouragement in this case given the community interest. At this point I'm not excited to fund the EA Hotel's general costs. My concerns are:
- Hotel management generally (including selection of guests/projects)
- Potential for community health issues, and concern about handling of a staffing issue
- Some concern about the handling of past PR situations; I think these were very difficult situation...
Can you say what those sticking points are? I guess that could be relevant to know for other potential donors.
Here's an idea: sponsorship of individual rooms: £500/month, minimum commitment of 12 months, voided if hotel ceases to exist in current form in the mean time. You'd get to name the room - e.g. “x suite” - and perhaps specify a cause area it's to be reserved for. If you're interested in this, let's talk.
Not sure Greg officially approves of this, but there's also an octagon-shaped common room which we typically call "The Octagon". If you want to help financially and also troll all of us to no end, you could stipulate that we rename it to some other shape, e.g. "The Triangle".
“Why not just charge people?" I think that would end up missing most of the counterfactual value. We are providing grants in the form of free accommodation and board for those working full time on EA related endeavors (at a very low cost per person year of work - ~£6k). Having a default of charging would curtail the interest of the people and projects most likely to benefit (and the value produced by them). It kind of goes against most of the point of the project (like trying to save a scholarship by asking the recipients to pay).” ...
What if rooms at the EA Hotel were cost-price by default, and you allocated "scholarships" based on a combination of need and merit, as many US universities do? This might avoid a negative feedback cycle (because you can retain the most exceptional people) while reducing costs and making the EA Hotel a less attractive target for unaligned people to take resources from.
I think that would end up missing most of the counterfactual value... It kind of goes against most of the point of the project (like trying to save a scholarship by asking the recipients to pay).
There could be of significant value to some people to have subsidised much cheaper than usual rent (in a hotel with a ready-made dedicated EA community), even if it's not free. Of course, it's a further question whether there are enough such people to sustain the hotel in the short term, if the hotel transitions away from fully covering expenses.
I think it woul
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CEEALAR provides cost-effective support to EAs working on global catastrophic risks in the form of free or subsidised coliving and coworking spaces, but has so far been unsuccessful in securing EAIF grants. Does EAIF see a role for this type of infrastructure? If so, what would you like it to look like?
(note that I'm not speaking about CEEALAR or any other specific EAIF applicants/grantees specifically)
I understand that CEEALAR has created a low-cost hotel/coworking space in the UK for relatively junior people to stay while they work on research projects relevant to GCRs. I think that you had some strategic updates recently so some of my impression of your work may be out of date. Supporting people early on in their impact-focused careers seems really valuable, I've seen lots of people go through in-person retreats and quickly start doing valuable work.
A... (read more)