Founders Pledge: Global Catastrophic Risks Fund

The Global Catastrophic Risks Fund tackles far-future threats and takes action now to help protect every human being alive today. We find opportunities to support highly impactful and neglected initiatives to reduce the probability of worldwide catastrophes and mitigate their consequences.

Humanity faces existential risks, including war between great powers, natural and engineered pandemics, thermonuclear war, threats from advanced artificial intelligence (AI), and frontier military technologies. These global catastrophic risks have the potential to kill hundreds of millions, even billions, of people alive today. We can come together – scientists, policymakers, engineers, military leaders, and motivated citizens – to mitigate them; it's happened before. We aim to:

• Reduce the probability of large-scale catastrophic events

• Mitigate the potential negative impacts of these events if they occur

• Improve our ability to anticipate new and emerging risks on the horizon

Our Approach to Grantmaking

Our decision-making is guided by three core values: impact, innovation, and flexibility.

1. To maximize impact, our grant portfolio includes both direct interventions, like funding the development of new crisis communications technology or personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as research and hits-based bets. Hits-based bets are initiatives where success is less certain, but where there is potential to improve many more lives if successful.
2. We are committed to innovation, including developing new and better approaches to grantmaking, and providing seed funding for novel projects
3. We maintain flexibility to respond rapidly to emerging crises and windows of opportunity. We work with networks of domain experts, trusted partners, and government decision-makers to identify new opportunities, and deploy funds in the most effective ways.

When evaluating potential grants, we consider several key points:

1. Counterfactual impact
2. Collaborating with trusted partners
3. Avoiding harm and information hazards
4. Filling funding gaps
5. Organizational strengths
6. Seizing time-sensitive opportunities and policy windows

Frequently Asked Questions

Can charities apply for money from the Fund?
The Funds do not generally accept applications from charities, and we request that charities do not send unsolicited applications for funding. If the Fund Managers choose to open up an application round, this will be publicized.

How frequently will you make grants from the Fund?
In general, Fund Managers will review grantmaking decisions on a quarterly basis. Decisions will be made based on the value of Funds and the available options for high-impact grantmaking. We may disburse funds outside of quarterly review dates if we become aware of a particularly promising and time-sensitive funding.

How will my contribution be used?
All funds are granted out. The Fund is not an investment vehicle. The Fund does not use any percentage of contributions to cover staff time or other overhead costs. Every dollar contributed to the Fund will be used to make grants directly to end-user organizations creating a real difference.

More Questions?

To learn more about the Founders Pledge Global Catastrophic Risks Fund, please visit founderspledge.com or email the Fund Managers at funds@founderspledge.com.