Effective Ventures Foundation USA, Inc. for the EA Forum Donation Election Fund 2024

Donations to this fund will be made to Effective Ventures Foundation USA, Inc. (EV US). EV US is running a donation election, and, subject to the terms of the fund, plans to distribute the money in this fund to the top three charitable programs voted on by the users of the Effective Altruism Forum between Nov 18 - Dec 3, 2024.

During Giving Season 2024, the Effective Altruism Forum is hosting a number of events, including a Donation Election (see more in the announcement post). We’re raising money for the Donation Election Fund to increase the funds designated for the winners in the Donation Election — three projects that will be selected by EA Forum users via popular vote.

Why might donating to the Donation Election Fund be a good idea? (And why might you not want to donate?)

In brief, contributing to the Donation Election Fund could be a good way to improve how Giving Season goes this year, while also directing more funding to promising projects that could productively use it.

Some relevant points:

• Money in the Donation Election Fund will be designated for the three candidates who receive the most votes in the EA Forum Donation Election, which suggests that the ultimate recipients of the funding will use it well. 
• Donating via the Donation Election Fund will also likely boost productive participation in Giving Season (and the Donation Election) on the EA Forum. 
• Growing the Fund could help encourage high-quality and action-oriented discussion on questions like which charities and funds are most cost-effective. This would improve readers’ understanding of effective giving overall and might increase the salience of giving in the EA community. It might also nudge readers to donate to high-impact projects. And it could help donors take the Donation Election event more seriously. 
• The EA Forum Team will match the first $5000 donated to the Donation Election Fund.

It might not make sense for you to donate to the Donation Election Fund if you don’t expect the winning projects to be as promising as what you would otherwise donate to and you don’t think the benefit of boosting participation in Giving Season is that strong — or if you don’t think you should be donating this year.

How will the Donation Election & Donation Election Fund work?

Starting November 18, EA Forum users (anyone who had an account before October 22, 2024) will vote on how the Donation Election Fund should be allocated between different charitable projects. The fund will then be designated for the three winning candidates (proportionally to how people voted, to a reasonable approximation). We plan to publish more details on the election soon, after which we update this description to link to the post. In the meantime, you can read the details from last year’s election, which will be very similar to this year’s.

Please note that donating to the Donation Election Fund does not boost someone’s voting power in the Donation Election.

If the Donation Election is not capable of running as planned (e.g. due to fraud or technical failures), we reserve the right to modify, suspend, or terminate the election. If that happens, we will announce the changes on the EA Forum and work to distribute all donations made to the Donation Election Fund in a manner consistent with the Donation Election description, but at our discretion.