I think more people should consider leaving more (endorsed) short, nice comments on the Forum + LW when they like a post, especially for newer authors or when someone is posting something “brave” / a bit risky. It’s just so cheap to build this habit and I continue to think that sincere gratitude is underrated in ~all online spaces. I like that @Ben_West🔸 does this frequently :)

Random, I realized I misread your comment the first time around — yeah I do think the above consideration (maybe alumni have unusual local knowledge on small CB projects that influence them) is interesting pushback. Thanks!

Thinking about it again, I'm weakly positive about people in general taking advantage of "local knowledge" when donating, and people knowing which CB efforts helped them is a good example of 'local knowledge' effects.

(I do still think the second consideration holds — bigger funders have a much better birds eye perspective on the meta ecosystem as a whole than the average EA, even if they have worse local knowledge.)

I love this post, thanks for writing it! :) This line particularly stood out to me: "A job is just a platform for impact." So good!

I'm so sorry to hear about your difficult life circumstances last year! I know we don't know each other personally, but I've often enjoyed your comments over the years.

If we are giving what we can (not in the capitalized sense), sometimes we aren't in a position to give as much and have to radically accept that.

I liked this framing! I feel tempted to add something like, "this is a marathon not a race" / "it's ok to take a break".

Thanks Aaron! I think I'm now a bit confused what a prospective funder would be funding.

Is it something like, the volunteer group would run a hiring round (managed by anyone in particular?) for a part-time leader (maybe someone in the group?), but no one specifically has raised their hand for this? And then perhaps that person could deploy some of the $15k to hire a research associate if they'd like?

I respect that this is an early stage idea y'all are just trying to get started / don't have all the details figured out yet, just trying to understand (mostly for the sake of any prospective funders) who they would be betting on etc. :)

Also: I'm so excited someone is trying to take a crack at this issue. Suffering caused by screwworms does seem immense. I feel a bit unsure on the specifics of how this project will evolve, but I'm rooting for you! <3

The "show up" spirit feels emblematic of a quality I love about EAs. It reminds me of this quote I like: "Often, the important things are accomplished not by those best suited to do them, or by those who ought to be responsible for doing them, but by whoever actually shows up."

Thank you for sharing the update! :)

• Funding/time:
  Our volunteer team members have other commitments and can only dedicate ~5 hours per week to this project. To make significant progress, we need people working full-time, which requires funding.
  • Proposed solution:
    $15,000 for a part-time program director, and a research associate. With the capacity to expand to 100k for a full-time team 
    If you are an individual donor interested in funding us, drop us a message!

Do you have a prospective director in mind, and how many hours / for how long would they work? Same question for your research associate. $15k to cover 2 part time roles seems quite low to me, especially since this would have to also include healthcare, taxes, etc. that an employer wouldn't pay for!

I'm also generally curious who has been leading this project, if anyone in particular! :)

<3 This is so lovely @Allan_Saldanha! I think it is such a lovely and remarkable thing about our community that so many people have been quietly living their lives and just giving their 10, 20, 40, 75(!) percent to causes they care about, some now over the course of 10+ years. "Generous and thoughtful giving is normal here" continues to be one of my favorite facts about EAs :')

Thanks for doing this AMA!

Kind of curious if you looked into this -- obviously no pressure to share before you're ready though, I was just scrolling through some old comments :) Good luck on your work!

Oh! Well I'm sorry for spreading misinformation :) Thanks for the correction!