Open Philanthropy Explained

Open Philanthropy
Founders:
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Vat Id:(for European organizations) -->
Focus:-->
Location City:San Francisco
Location Country:US
Area Served:Global
Product:-->
Methods:Grants, funding, research
Field:-->
Languages:-->
Owners:-->
Leader Title:Chief Executive Officer
Leader Name:Alexander Berger
Leader Title2:President
Leader Name2:Cari Tuna
Board Of Directors:Dustin Moskovitz, Cari Tuna, Divesh Makan, Holden Karnofsky, and Alexander Berger
Publication:-->
Parent Organisation:-->
Former Name:Open Philanthropy Project

Open Philanthropy is a research and grantmaking foundation that makes grants based on the principles of effective altruism. It was founded as a partnership between GiveWell and Good Ventures. Its current chief executive officer is Alexander Berger, and its main funders are Cari Tuna and Dustin Moskovitz. Moskovitz says that their wealth, worth $16 billion, "belongs to the world. We intend not to have much when we die."[1] [2]

History

Dustin Moskovitz co-founded Facebook and later Asana, becoming a billionaire in the process.[1] He and Tuna, his wife, were inspired by Peter Singer's The Life You Can Save, and became the youngest couple to sign Bill Gates and Warren Buffett’s Giving Pledge, promising to give away most of their money.[3] [4] Tuna left her journalist position at The Wall Street Journal[4] to focus on philanthropy full-time,[3] and the couple started the Good Ventures foundation in 2011. The organization partnered with GiveWell, a charity evaluator founded by Holden Karnofsky and Elie Hassenfeld.[5] The partnership named itself the "Open Philanthropy Project" in 2014, and began operating independently in 2017.[6] [7] Good Ventures holds the funds and distributes them according to recommendations by Open Philanthropy.[8] As of August 2024, Open Philanthropy has made $3.2 billion in public grants through that process.[9]

Operations

Open Philanthropy's grantmaking is based on the principles of effective altruism.[2] [5] [10] The organization makes grants across a variety of focus areas, with the goal of “help[ing] others as much as [it] can”.[11] They calculate impact for some programs using back-of-the-envelope calculations, and decide which opportunities to fund using a “bar” for cost-effectiveness.[12] At the same time, they consider their work "high-risk philanthropy", and expect "that most of [their] work will fail to have an impact".[13] In 2023, Open Philanthropy recommended more than $750 million in grants.[14]

Focus areas

Open Philanthropy’s focus areas are split across two portfolios: Global Health and Wellbeing and Global Catastrophic Risks. A few areas fall outside these portfolios.[15]

Global Health and Wellbeing

The Global Health and Wellbeing portfolio includes areas focused on global health, scientific research, farm animal welfare,[16] land use reform, and public policy.[17] Within the portfolio, Open Philanthropy prioritizes causes by evaluating how impactful, neglected, and tractable they seem, while also aiming to equalize marginal returns across different interventions to maximize overall impact.[18]

Historically, a large fraction of funding in this portfolio went toward charities recommended by GiveWell. More recently, Open Philanthropy has pushed to identify causes that could leverage funding to “get more humanitarian impact per dollar”, leading to the creation of several new programs (in areas such as public health and innovation policy) and leaving GiveWell as a smaller portion of the portfolio.[19]

Global health and development

Open Philanthropy's investments in global health and development include efforts to cure iodine deficiencies, prevent malaria,[20] [21] and scale up vaccine production.[22] Of their global health and development giving, Tuna said, “I am still optimistic that we can do better than just giving money to poor people, but in the meantime, we’re doing a lot of just giving money to poor people.”[5]

Animal welfare

Holden Karnofsky has claimed that Open Philanthropy "is the largest funder in the world of farm animal welfare", including investing in alternative proteins and animal welfare advocacy. In 2016, Open Philanthropy made an investment in Impossible Foods to support the development of non-animal meats.[23] It is also a patron of The Good Food Institute.[24] Research done by Open Philanthropy includes an investigation of the economic viability of cultivated meat.[24]

Science

Grants within the science bucket include the areas of human health and wellbeing, scientific innovation, science supporting biosecurity and pandemic preparedness, transformative basic science, and other scientific research areas. As of April 2024, Open Philanthropy has funded more than $320 million in science-focused grants.[25]

Sample grants

Grants in this portfolio include:

Global Catastrophic Risks

Under this portfolio, Open Philanthropy supports organizations aimed at tackling global catastrophic risks. This category includes over $200 million given for biosecurity and pandemic preparedness,[38] and over $370 million for mitigating potential risks from advanced artificial intelligence.[39] The organization tends to prioritize interventions aimed at reducing risks with the potential to "kill enough people to threaten civilization as we know it",[5] because preventing such risks is expected to save the most lives. Some have claimed that by "flooding" money into biosecurity, Open Philanthropy is "absorbing much of the field’s experienced research capacity, focusing the attention of experts on this narrow, extremely unlikely, aspect of biosecurity risk".[40] On the 80,000 Hours podcast, whose largest funder is Open Philanthropy, some biosecurity experts, however, have anonymously counseled against "failures of imagination", overreliance on historical precedents, and other ways of thinking that could lead people to underestimate catastrophic biorisk.[41]

Sample grants

Grants in this portfolio include:

Past focus areas

Past focus areas of Open Philanthropy have included criminal justice reform (which spun out as a new organization in 2021[49]) and US macroeconomic stabilization policy (which ceased to be a focus in 2021,[50] though European macroeconomic policy grants have been made more recently).

Sample grants

Grants in past focus areas include:

Notes and References

  1. News: Cari Tuna and Dustin Moskovitz: Young Silicon Valley billionaires pioneer new approach to philanthropy - The Washington Post. The Washington Post. February 6, 2022. April 25, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190425061151/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/billionaire-couple-give-plenty-to-charity-but-they-do-quite-a-bit-of-homework/2014/12/26/19fae34c-86d6-11e4-b9b7-b8632ae73d25_story.html. live.
  2. Web site: Weissman. Lilach. Silicon Valley Billionaire Dustin Moskovitz And Cari Tuna On the Reasoned Art Of Giving. January 2, 2015. February 6, 2022. August 24, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170824135335/http://jewishbusinessnews.com/2015/01/02/silicon-valley-billionaire-dustin-moskovitz-and-cari-tuna-on-the-reasoned-art-of-giving/. live.
  3. Web site: December 1, 2015 . Wringing the Most Good Out of a Facebook Fortune . The Chronicle of Philanthropy . February 6, 2022 . February 6, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220206025353/https://www.philanthropy.com/article/wringing-the-most-good-out-of-a-facebook-fortune/ . live .
  4. Web site: Carpenter . Scott . October 19, 2021 . Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz builds a second fortune . The Sydney Morning Herald . February 6, 2022 . February 6, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220206025343/https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/facebook-co-founder-dustin-moskovitz-builds-a-second-fortune-20211018-p590ra.html . live .
  5. Web site: Matthews. Dylan. You have $8 billion. You want to do as much good as possible. What do you do?. Vox. February 6, 2022. April 24, 2015. August 24, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170824133751/https://www.vox.com/2015/4/24/8457895/givewell-open-philanthropy-charity. live.
  6. Web site: Who We Are . July 12, 2019 . Open Philanthropy . January 13, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190113232159/https://www.openphilanthropy.org/about/who-we-are . live .
  7. News: Moses. Sue-Lynn. Here's What Philanthropy Looks Like When Millennials From Tech and Finance Get Together. Inside Philanthropy. August 20, 2014. September 23, 2019. August 19, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190819091453/https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2014/8/27/heres-what-philanthropy-looks-like-when-millennials-from-tec.html. live.
  8. Web site: Grantmaking Approach. Good Ventures. February 6, 2022. February 6, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220206032038/https://www.goodventures.org/our-portfolio/grantmaking-approach. live.
  9. Web site: Grants . 2024-07-13 . Open Philanthropy . en-us.
  10. News: Kruppa. Miles. Dustin Moskovitz, the philanthropist conquering Silicon Valley. Financial Times. February 6, 2022. October 2, 2020. February 6, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220206023244/https://www.ft.com/content/15ffce3b-cee3-44ad-b961-e22459b7b7b2. live.
  11. Web site: About us . 2023 . Open Philanthropy . 2024-04-24.
  12. Web site: Technical updates to our global health and wellbeing cause prioritization Framework . Favaloro . Peter . Berger . Alexander . November 18, 2021 . Open Philanthropy . 2024-04-28.
  13. News: Philanthropy in Silicon Valley: Big Bets on Big Ideas - The New York Times. The New York Times. November 4, 2016. February 6, 2022. February 6, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220206023321/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/06/giving/philanthropy-in-silicon-valley-big-bets-on-big-ideas.html. live. Goel. Vindu.
  14. Web site: Our Progress in 2023 and Plans For 2024 . 2024-04-24 . Open Philanthropy . en-us.
  15. Web site: Our global health and wellbeing and global catastrophic risks grantmaking portfolios . 2022 . Open Philanthropy . 2024-04-26.
  16. Web site: How effective is effective altruism? A deep dive into two of Open Philanthropy's EA-inspired programs . Longley . Liz . March 16, 2023 . Inside Philanthropy . 2024-04-26.
  17. Web site: Open Philanthropy launches programs for South Asia, global aid work . Beasley . Stephanie . January 6, 2022 . devex . 2024-04-26.
  18. Oehlsen . Emily . 2024-05-01 . Philanthropic Cause Prioritization . Journal of Economic Perspectives . en . 38 . 2 . 63–82 . 10.1257/jep.38.2.63 . 0895-3309.
  19. Web site: Our planned allocation to Givewell's recommendations for the next few years . Berger . Alexander . October 5, 2023 . Open Philanthropy . 2024-04-26.
  20. Web site: Dustin Moskovitz And Cari Tuna Launch Site For Their Philanthropic Foundation, Good Ventures TechCrunch. March 12, 2013. February 6, 2022. February 6, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220206072239/https://techcrunch.com/2013/03/12/dustin-moskovitz-and-cari-tuna-launch-site-for-their-philanthropic-foundation-good-ventures/. live.
  21. Web site: Dustin Moskovitz . Forbes . February 6, 2022 . February 6, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170206232847/http://www.forbes.com/profile/dustin-moskovitz/ . live .
  22. Web site: Gates, USAID among Open Philanthropy's $150M regrant contest winners . Beasley . Stephanie . January 12, 2023 . devex . 2024-04-28.
  23. News: Callaway. Ewen. Facebook billionaire pours funds into high-risk research. Nature. December 20, 2017. September 23, 2019. September 11, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190911150254/https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-017-08795-0. live.
  24. Web site: Is Lab Meat About to Hit Your Dinner Plate? – Mother Jones. February 6, 2022. February 6, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220206234850/https://www.motherjones.com/food/2021/08/is-lab-meat-about-to-hit-your-dinner-plate/. live.
  25. Web site: Scientific Research . 2024 . Open Philanthropy . 2024-04-26.
  26. Web site: Malaria Consortium Grants . 2023 . Open Philanthropy . 2024-04-26.
  27. Web site: Matthews . Dylan . 2024-10-02 . The world’s spending to fight global lead poisoning just doubled . 2024-12-02 . Vox.
  28. Web site: Why Open Philanthropy's backing this evidence-based solution for safe water . Longley . Liz . June 10, 2022 . Inside Philanthropy . 2024-04-26.
  29. Web site: Matthews. Dylan. A Facebook billionaire is handing tons of cash to poor people in East Africa. Vox. February 6, 2022. August 4, 2015. February 6, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220206073212/https://www.vox.com/2015/8/4/9092053/facebook-givedirectly-donation-cash. live.
  30. Web site: The Humane League grants . 2023 . Open Philanthropy . 2024-04-26.
  31. Web site: Open Philanthropy Project's Cari Tuna on Funding Global Health Barron's. February 6, 2022. February 6, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220206062407/https://www.barrons.com/articles/open-philanthropy-projects-cari-tuna-on-funding-global-health-51569261600. live.
  32. Web site: The Center for Election Science — General Support . live . https://archive.today/20221209193507/https://www.goodventures.org/our-portfolio/grants/the-center-for-election-science-general-support . 2022-12-09 . 2022-12-10 . Good Ventures.
  33. Web site: March 9, 2019 . Center for Election Science Announces $1.8 Million for Approval Voting . 2019-11-05 . Philanthropy News Digest (PND).
  34. Web site: The big Yimby money behind housing deregulation bills - 48 hills. May 27, 2021. February 6, 2022. February 6, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220206235353/https://48hills.org/2021/05/the-big-yimby-money-behind-housing-deregulation-bills/. live.
  35. Web site: California's Yimbys Dollars & Sense. February 6, 2022. February 6, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220206235605/http://dollarsandsense.org/archives/2018/0918bronstein.html. live.
  36. News: Transcript: Ezra Klein Interviews Holden Karnofsky - The New York Times. The New York Times. October 5, 2021. February 6, 2022. November 29, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211129003232/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/05/podcasts/transcript-ezra-klein-interviews-holden-karnofsky.html. live.
  37. Web site: Lead Exposure Elimination Project — General Support . 2024-09-24 . Open Philanthropy.
  38. Web site: Biosecurity & Pandemic Preparedness . 2023-09-27 . Open Philanthropy . en-us.
  39. Web site: Potential Risks from Advanced Artificial Intelligence . 2023-09-27 . Open Philanthropy . en-us.
  40. Web site: April 25, 2019 . Will splashy philanthropy cause the biosecurity field to focus on the wrong risks? . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220206032927/https://thebulletin.org/2019/04/will-splashy-philanthropy-cause-the-biosecurity-field-to-focus-on-the-wrong-risks/ . February 6, 2022 . February 6, 2022 . Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
  41. Web site: April 30, 2024 . Anonymous answers: What are the biggest misconceptions about biosecurity and pandemic risk? . 80,000 Hours.
  42. Web site: How Philanthropists are Tackling COVID-19 Barron's. February 7, 2022. February 7, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220207000229/https://www.barrons.com/articles/how-philanthropists-are-tackling-covid-19-01584561605. live.
  43. News: Murray. Sarah. Philanthropists play a crucial role in developing vaccines. Financial Times. February 6, 2022. May 22, 2020. February 6, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220206054000/https://www.ft.com/content/847a9052-6847-11ea-a6ac-9122541af204. live.
  44. Gideon. Lewis-Kraus. The Reluctant Prophet of Effective Altruism . August 8, 2022. en-US . . November 29, 2023.
  45. Web site: Effective Ventures Foundation — Event Venue Open Philanthropy. November 29, 2023 . July 13, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230713085733/https://www.openphilanthropy.org/grants/effective-ventures-foundation-uk-event-venue/.
  46. Web site: Our Progress in 2023 and Plans For 2024 . 2024-04-24 . Open Philanthropy . en-us.
  47. Web site: AI is suddenly everywhere, but philanthropy has been involved for years. Here are the top funders . Karon . Paul . July 26, 2023 . Inside Philanthropy . 2024-04-26.
  48. Web site: UC Berkeley launches Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence . Norris . Jeffrey . August 29, 2016 . Berkeley News . 2024-04-26.
  49. Web site: With More Donors on Board, Open Philanthropy Is Spinning Its Criminal Justice Work into a New Fund . Don . Katherine . November 16, 2021 . Inside Philanthropy . 2024-04-26.
  50. Web site: Macroeconomic stabilization policy. 2021 . Open Philanthropy . 2024-04-26.
  51. Web site: Giving Tuesday 2021: Where to donate to help criminal justice reform - Vox. November 30, 2020. February 6, 2022. February 6, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220206232626/https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/21729124/criminal-justice-charity-donate-racial-justice. live.

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