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Non-profit

Centre for Effective Altruism (CEA)

Website:

www.centreforeffectivealtruism.org/
Status:

International Non-Profit
Project of:

Effective Ventures Foundation & Effective Ventures Foundation USA
Formation:

2011
Managing Director (interim):

Ben West
Headquarters:

Trajan House, Mill Street
Location:

Oxford, United Kingdom
U.S Budget (2021):

Revenue:                          N/A

Expenses:                        $28,000,000

Assets:                             N/A 19 6

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Centre for Effective Altruism (CEA) is a left-leaning project of the Effective Ventures Venture Group, an umbrella term for the Effective Ventures Foundation and Effective Ventures Foundation USA, that works to support its member organizations advance the concept of “effective altruism.” 1 It is based in Oxford, England. 2

CEA defines  effective altruism as is the use of “evidence and reason” to benefit the greatest number as much as possible. It calls for a global community of institutions and individuals who strive to make an impact by investing in projects based on their perceived commitment to others, scientific mindset, integrity, and collaborative spirit. 3

Disgraced investor, entrepreneur, and Democratic political donor Sam Bankman-Fried sat on the board of directors of the Centre for Effective Altruism until 2019. 4 As of May 2023, CEA is not seeking new donations to support its operations. 5

History and Leadership

Centre for Effective Altruism (CEA) was founded in 2011 by William MacAskill and Benjamin Todd 6 as an umbrella organization for two altruistic organizations, Giving What We Can and 80,000 Hours. 7

MacAskill is an associate professor at the University of Oxford. He is also a senior research fellow at Oxford University’s Global Priorities Institute and the co-founder of 80,000 Hours and Giving What We Can. 8

As of May 2023, Ben West was the interim managing director of CEA. Previously, West was a software engineer working on major healthcare systems in the United States. 9

Disgraced investor, entrepreneur, and Democratic donor Sam Bankman-Fried sat on the board of directors of the Centre for Effective Altruism until 2019. 4

Activities and Funding

Centre for Effective Altruism (CEA) is a project of the Effective Ventures Group, the umbrella term for the Effective Ventures Foundation and the Effective Ventures Foundation USA, Inc., two separate entities that work together to advance the concept of “effective altruism.” 1 CEA also runs EffectiveAltruism.org, the EA Forum, and EA Global, and it produces the EA Handbook. 10 CEA is focuses its charitable efforts on building and nurturing a global community of individuals who take impactful action to solve them. 11

Effective Ventures Foundation is an England and Wales-registered charity, and the Effective Ventures Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) in the United States. 10

Headquartered in Oxford, England, 2 CEA is one of nine organizations within the Effective Ventures ecosystem, which includes 80,000 Hours, EA Funds, Giving What We Can, Asterisk, Centre for the Governance of AI, Longview Philanthropy, Forethought Foundation, BlueDot Impact, and Non-Trivial. 12

CEA’s concept of “effective altruism” relies on a global community of people who strive to make an impact by influencing and funding in accordance with CEA’s core principles: commitment to others, scientific mindset, integrity, and collaborative spirit. 3 There are more than 200 effective altruism groups in dozens of countries. 13

CEA itself hosts global conferences, 14 runs the University Groups Accelerator Program for university students interested in effective altruism, 7 and operates effective altruism, which hosts a collection of recommended resources for individuals who want to engage in altruistic behavior. 15

In 2022, CEA operated global conferences, funded, and advertised on behalf of hundreds of local effective altruism groups, and built and moderated EA forum, an online hub for discussing effective altruism. The organization also produced the Effective Altruism Newsletter, which goes to more than 50,000 subscribers. 16

Supporting Organizations

Previously, organizations such as Animal Charity Evaluators, 80,000 Hours, Center on Long-Term Risk, Charity Science, Effective Altruism Foundation, Effective Giving, Future of Life Institute, Giving What We Can, Raising for Effective Giving, Rethinking Charity, and The Life You Can Save have expressed support for Centre for Effective Altruism. Individuals including Elie Hassenfeld of GiveWell, Holden Karnofsky of Open Philanthropy, Toby Ord of the Future of Humanity Institute, Nate Soares of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, and animal rights theorist Peter Singer have also voiced support for CEA. 3

United States-Focused Activities

Centre for Effective Altruism’s Effective Ventures USA nonprofit organization is run by Max Dalton and issued $4,413,637 in grants through its EA Funds Grantmaking program and $2,263,259 in grants through its Charity Grantmaking Program. 17

In 2021, Effective Ventures USA financially supported Rethink Priorities, Wild Animal Initiative, Mercatus Center, Founders Pledge, Legal Priorities Inc., GiveDirectly, Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative (BERI), Innovations for Poverty Action, the Humane League, Meridian Institute, New York University, Players Philanthropy Fund, Center for Applied Rationality, Evidence Action, and others. 18

Funding

Centre for Effective Altruism receives funding from its United Kingdom- and United States-based philanthropies. As of May 2023, CEA was not seeking new donations. 5

As of 2022, Centre for Effective Altruism had an estimated annual budget of approximately $28,000,000. 6

In 2021, Centre for Effective Altruism’s Effective Ventures USA reported revenue of $17,476,222 and expenses of $7,531,058. In 2020, the organization reported revenue of $21,711,453 and expenses of $10,952,005. 19

References

  1. “Home.” Centre for Effective Altruism. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://www.centreforeffectivealtruism.org/.
  2. Lewis-Kraus, Gideon. “The Reluctant Prophet of Effective Altruism.” New Yorker. August 8, 2022. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/15/the-reluctant-prophet-of-effective-altruism.
  3. “CEA’s Guiding Principles.” Centre for Effective Altruism. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://www.centreforeffectivealtruism.org/ceas-guiding-principles.
  4. Alter, Charlotte. “Exclusive: Effective Altruist Leaders Were Repeatedly Warned About Sam Bankman-Fried Years Before FTX Collapsed.” Time. March 15, 2023. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://time.com/6262810/sam-bankman-fried-effective-altruism-alameda-ftx/.
  5. “Donate to the Centre for Effective Altruism.” Centre for Effective Altruism. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://www.centreforeffectivealtruism.org/donate.
  6. Bajekal, Naina. “Want to Do More good? This Movement Might Have the Answer.” Time. August 10, 2022. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://time.com/6204627/effective-altruism-longtermism-william-macaskill-interview/.
  7. “History.” Centre for Effective Altruism. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://www.centreforeffectivealtruism.org/history.
  8. “Experience.” William MacAskill LinkedIn. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/wdmacaskill/details/experience/.
  9. “Team.” Centre for Effective Altruism. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://www.centreforeffectivealtruism.org/team.
  10. “Approach to Moderation and Content Curation.” Centre for Effective Altruism. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://www.centreforeffectivealtruism.org/moderation-and-content.
  11. “Home.” Centre for Effective Altruism. Accessed May 17, 2023. https://www.centreforeffectivealtruism.org/what-is-cea.
  12. “Our Organizations.” Effective Ventures. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://ev.org/.
  13. “Home.” Centre for Effective Altruism. May 22, 2023. https://www.centreforeffectivealtruism.org/.
  14. “Events.” Effective Altruism Global. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://www.effectivealtruism.org/ea-global/events.
  15.  “CEA’s work in 2022.” Centre for Effective Altruism. December 21, 2022. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/DajpFcaMrHv4fPLTy/cea-s-work-in-2022.
  16. “CEA’s work in 2022.” Centre for Effective Altruism Forum. December 21, 2022. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/DajpFcaMrHv4fPLTy/cea-s-work-in-2022.
  17. “Centre for Effective Altruism USA INC.” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2021. Part III. https://assets.ctfassets.net/es8pp29e1wp8/719m3SIVrQSzDcUxrzo7dS/af10eed02339549672126b0e87f2776d/Final_-_2021_Form_990_signed_-_CEA.pdf.
  18. “Centre for Effective Altruism USA Inc.” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2021. https://assets.ctfassets.net/es8pp29e1wp8/719m3SIVrQSzDcUxrzo7dS/af10eed02339549672126b0e87f2776d/Final_-_2021_Form_990_signed_-_CEA.pdf.
  19.  “Centre for Effective Altruism USA INC.” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2021. Part I. https://assets.ctfassets.net/es8pp29e1wp8/719m3SIVrQSzDcUxrzo7dS/af10eed02339549672126b0e87f2776d/Final_-_2021_Form_990_signed_-_CEA.pdf.
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