Thanks for checking out our briefing. Wherever you happen to be sheltering-in-place, we hope you and yours are staying safe. We have spoken to many in the charitable sector that have been forced to be resilient to varying degrees due to COVID. The RC team continues to draw inspiration from charitable initiatives and donors focused on alleviating suffering and looking out for the future of humanity in the midst of these very challenging times.
Project Headlines - RC collaborates with the EA Giving Tuesday team in raising >$1.5M for effective charities, RC Forward publishes their 2019 year-in-review, Rethink Priorities graduates from RC, and the EA Hub consolidates resources for local groups.
Financials Snapshot* - $USD
*= Note figures do not include the Rethink Priorities project
** = Approximate estimate that includes currency conversion
Note: in the previous briefing, typos indicated that our staffing numbers and runway were unchanged from February. This briefing’s information is accurate.
Full RC Briefing
Project Updates
Rethink Charity Overview
You may have noticed our project offering has become more focused. Since the turn of the year, RC has been principally working toward winding down certain projects, buttressing the sustainability of the Rethink Charity regranting model, and spinning off Rethink Priorities. Our staff did engage in a seasonal push with the EA Giving Tuesday team that facilitated $1,094,039 in donations to effective charities with over 50% of those funds matched.
We’ve pivoted the bulk of our efforts toward the promotion and streamlining of RC Forward, while also seeking to generate revenue for operations by acting as fiscal sponsors for impactful foreign and domestic projects. Though still in the exploration phase, we’re encouraged by the level of demand for promising projects that want to offer tax advantages for funders. Please email Tee at [email protected] if you are aware of any projects that could be a good fit!
Rethink Priorities graduation - RP released a post late last year outlining the process of spinning off from Rethink Charity to form its own public charity in the US. Both organizations will continue collaboration efforts, including the EA Survey and cost-effectiveness analyses for RC Forward. We are excited to see RP scale new heights in producing valuable research for the world.
Rethink Priorities (RP)
RP co-ED Peter Hurford lists possible research ideas with regard to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Daniela reviews how COVID-19 is affecting nonhumans. Researcher Derek Foster shares a way to accelerate vaccine development with market shaping.
RP researcher Jason Schukraft reviews the possibility of achieving political change via the ballot initiative process, following a talk on the same subject at EAG SF 2019 by Co-ED Peter Hurford. He also released the first post in his series about how to compare welfare across different animals.
RP researcher Daniela R. Waldhorn reviews the use of snails by humans. Researcher Saulius Simcikas compares the numbers of all vertebrates used by humans to get a sense of scale, and RP intern Jacob Schmeiss reviews whether vegetarianism is a partisan issue.
RC Forward
RC Forward released their 2019 year-in-review and opened up additional routes for Canadians to give to organizations that are leading COVID-19 research and relief efforts.
RC Forward began allocating 4% of all donations made through our platform to our operations, with several notable exceptions that include COVID relief efforts.
Excluding the single largest donor of 2018, the platform has experienced year-on-year quarterly growth.
EA Survey
The EA Survey released 2019 survey analysis on EA community cause prioritization preferences, careers and skills, geographic distribution of EAs, and donation data.
EA Hub
The EA Hub is now hosted by Rethink Charity and supported by the Centre for Effective Altruism. Catherine Low managed the Effective Altruism Resource Hub during 2019 while working for Rethink Charity, and is now a contractor for the Centre for Effective Altruism.
The most recent update on the EA Hub outlines key improvements to the Effective Altruism Resource Hub, including the event category spreadsheet, and the Virtual Events guide.
The EA Hub Resources page is now the main collection of resources for local group organisers where you can find resources for running events, editable graphics, and an updated “pitch” guide. There is also content of interest to all EAs, including reading lists, links for donors, a compendium of EA Facebook groups, and much more.
What’s Next
Despite these troubling times, we can cite examples abound of generous folks who have stepped up levels of support for initiatives doing good work. Thank you to everyone who continues to support us and other worthwhile initiatives as the pandemic continues.