Funding for Groups

Image: EA Singapore

About Group Support Funding

Group Support Funding can cover a group's running expenses or fund specific group projects. Applications are reviewed on a case-by-case basis with no strong restrictions on which activities or projects can receive funding, as long as they are connected to an EA group or groups.

Group Support Funding is not intended to pay for people’s living expenses or time; this falls under Group Organiser Funding.

The page on group resources and support describes other forms of support CEA can provide to groups.

We recommend that groups get in touch with CEA's Groups Team at groups@centreforeffectivealtruism.org if they have any questions about Group Support Funding.

Types of Group Support Funding

Fellowships

Fellowships involve a group of people attending a weekly series of structured group discussions and other activities. The most common fellowships are introductory EA fellowships run in universities. Funding for fellowships can cover:

• Room booking

• Food

• Advertising materials

• Printing

• Books

NOTE: If your group requires fellowship funding AND general group funding at this time, please use the fellowship funding form to apply for both types of funding in one application.

General Group Funding

This type of funding is intended to cover groups’ running expenses. This can include:

• EA books (e.g. for attendees of book clubs, or to lend or give away to group members)

• Food at events

• Room booking

• Speaker travel expenses

• Advertising materials such as event posters, banners and flyers for a university clubs day

• Website and email hosting

• Video conference app subscriptions (e.g. Zoom) for groups that meet online)

• Meetup.com subscription

• Software to help run the group when needed. While many groups find free versions adequate for their needs, some groups have paid subscriptions to software such as Airtable, Slack, Calendly, or Notion.

Groups can in theory each claim up to 12,000 USD per year, but most groups applying for funding apply for between 500 and 2000 USD each year, with larger sums available for large groups.

We recommend established groups with regular expenses aim to apply for funding once or twice each year. However, multiple applications per year are fine, and newer groups may wish to first apply more often while they work out what their regular expenses are likely to be.

NOTE: If your group requires fellowship funding AND general group funding at this time, please use the fellowship funding form to apply for both types of funding in one application.

Retreats

Retreats involve community members gathering for two or more days, usually in a separate location (e.g. outside of their city). Retreat activities vary and may include social activities, career planning, intensive workshops, and working on projects. Retreats are usually held by large EA groups or regional groups. Funding for retreats commonly covers a partial subsidy of retreat costs for members of the community and full subsidies for group members that have financial constraints (e.g. students).

Travel Funding

Groups can apply for travel funding for:

• Group organisers to attend activities run by other nearby groups.

• Travel and/or expenses for the groups’ most engaged members to travel to their nearest EA conference.

Other

If a group has an idea for a project that doesn’t fit into the above categories, they can apply to get funding through the “Other” category.

Instructions to Apply for Group Support Funding

1. Optional: If you are uncertain about what costs to apply for, contact groups@centreforeffectivealtruism.org for advice.

2. Please make a copy of one of these Google document application templates. These templates include the questions required in the application form and due diligence form, plus a few other questions specific to the type of funding.

NOTE: If your group requires fellowship funding AND general funding at the same time, please use the fellowship funding form to apply for both types of funding in one application.

• Fellowship

• General Group Funding - Large (1000 USD or more)

• General Group Funding - Small (less than 1000 USD)

• Retreat

• Travel

• Other

3. Answer the questions in the template by replacing all the blue text. The word count is a very rough guide. If your expenses are uncertain we recommend you apply for a little more money than you think you need, as it is more time consuming to apply for additional funding than it is to return unused funding or roll funding over to the next application.

4. Optional: To get feedback before formally submitting, the application document can be shared as a Google Doc with groups@centreforeffectivealtruism.org. This could be a good idea if you think your application might be unusual and you haven't already communicated with CEA's Groups team about your plans. You’ll get a response within seven days.

5. Save the application document as a PDF.

6. Apply via CEA's grantee portal. If you haven't logged in before, click "New User?" and register as an "Individual" (unless you're representing a legally recognised organisation, or you want the funds sent to a group bank account). Once you are signed in, you can find the application form by going to "Apply for a Grant" and then "Groups Support."

7. Applicants will receive a response within seven days (or two working days if it is an urgent application).

Note: We've had some problems with applicants not receiving this email. If you don't receive a response in seven days (or two working days for an urgent application), check your spam folder, and then email groups@centreforeffectivealtruism.org.

8. Due Diligence (new applicants). If the application is successful, and the applicant hasn’t received funding from CEA in the last two years, they will have to go through the Due Diligence process. This involves the applicant

• Completing questions (most are in the application template)

• Uploading a copy of a photo ID

• Uploading a copy of a CV, or linking a LinkedIn profile

9. Grant Agreement. You will be sent an email asking you to sign a grant agreement document.

At any point in the process, you can contact groups@centreforeffectivealtruism.org about the content of the application, or grantees@centreforeffectivealtruism.org about due diligence and payment.

During Your Funding Period

• Organisers should review the templates below so that they know what kind of information they will need for the review.

• Organisers should keep any receipts so they can attach them to the review.

• Contact groups@centreforeffectivealtruism.org for approval if your plan changes and you wish to spend the funds in a significantly different way.

• Please spend responsibly!

Review

At the end of the funding period, groups will receive a reminder via email to write a review, which is due one month after the completion of their funding period.

1. Please make a copy of one of these Google document application templates:

Fellowship

General Group Funding - Large (1000 USD or more)

General Group Funding - Small (less than 1000 USD)

Retreat

Travel

Other

2. Answer the questions in the template by replacing all the blue text with your information. The word count is a very rough guide.

3. Save the document as a PDF.

4. Finally, use the link in your email to fill out the form on CEA’s grantee dashboard. You will be asked to upload your completed review document (as a PDF) at the end of this process.

Other Sources of Funding

• If your group is interested in starting an existential risk research fellowship, or any other activity meant to improve human civilization’s long-term prospects for survival and flourishing, BERI might be able to support you by providing free online services (e.g. Upwork/Asana); funding equipment, food, software; funding an Uber account for easy travel, and hiring experts for research support. You can apply for funding here.

• External funding is available for productivity tools for EA Groups. Learn more and apply here.