Summary

Effective Altruism New Zealand (EA NZ) is seeking funding to sustain and expand our effective giving initiative, which currently directs around $1M NZD (~$0.6M USD) p.a. to effective charities across a range of cause areas. Impact is expected to grow further with strategic investment in marketing and donor retention, and there is considerable potential to expand reach within Aotearoa (New Zealand)’s philanthropic landscape, leveraging the nation's high rates of per-capita giving. To achieve this, we are seeking $30,000 to $80,000 USD to cover the operational costs of our effective giving programme for the next year.

Our Work

EA NZ works to grow and support the effective altruism (EA) community in Aotearoa. While our work has multiple aspects, including generalised community building and promotion of EA ideas, our primary focus is on effective giving. Through our donation platform, fundraisers and other initiatives, we enable and encourage Kiwi donors to support highly effective charities. This directly increases the funds available for high-impact work across a range of cause areas. 

The primary focus of our effective giving work is on facilitating tax-deductible donations to highly effective charities through our website.  Due to the structure of NZ tax law, we use two different legal vehicles to accomplish this: a registered charity which facilitates donations within the global health and development space, and a donor advised fund which facilitates donations in other cause areas. Around 20 different organisations/funds are currently supported, with around 90% of donations going to global health and development. However, we expect this percentage to shift over time, as support for other cause areas was only introduced in December of 2022. 

While we have done little active marketing/outreach to date, we do run some initiatives aimed at increasing donations and/or growing the community. For example, we give away free copies of Will McAskill’s Doing Good Better— with over 2000 books sent out to date— and this promotion is a key source of new donors. We also run regular matching fundraisers to encourage effective giving, with our annual Christmas fundraiser raising an average of $60K NZD (~37K USD). 

EA NZ is also a central point of reference for the effective altruism community in Aotearoa. For example, we arrange an annual retreat for highly engaged EAs, offer NZ-specific careers resources and advice, field requests from journalists about the movement, and provide support to the (independently run) city and university groups. While these activities make up a small proportion of our overall work and impact, maintaining this central point of contact plays an important role in supporting the effective altruism community in Aotearoa.

Impact to Date

EA NZ’s effective giving project has facilitated the donation of over $2.8M USD ($4.7M NZD) to effective charities since first established in 2016. While some of these funds would likely still be donated in our absence, we estimate that a significant proportion is counterfactual. Many of our donors find us through organic web search or word of mouth, while only ~4% report discovering us via GiveWell, Giving What Can, or other EA sources. This suggests that we are many donors’ first introduction to effective giving, and that— in our absence— some would likely give to different, less cost-effective, charities, or not donate at all. 

Our ability to offer tax deductibility likely also increases donations. On the simplest view, the resulting 33.33% donation tax credit enables donors to give more. Further, research suggests that donation behaviour exhibits significant price elasticity, with tax deductibility increasing donations by more than the amount of the deduction. Given this, our lower-bound estimate of counterfactual funds raised to date is $0.66M USD, with the true figure likely being higher.

This impact has been achieved at minimal operational cost. Our work was run entirely by volunteers from 2016-2020, and with paid part-time roles from 2020-2022. The 2022/2023 financial year was our first with someone in a full-time paid role. In that year, we raised >$1M NZD, on a total operational budget of ~$60,000 NZD, of which ~70% went towards our effective giving work. This implies a significant multiplier, with every dollar spent yielding $16 in donations.

Potential for Growth

We believe EA NZ has significant potential for further impact. Donations have grown steadily over time, from ~$100K NZD in the first year to >$1M NZD in 2022/23. As we have done little active outreach to date, it seems likely that strategic investment in marketing and donor retention (among other strategies) could significantly boost donations. Further, while Aotearoa’s small population places a natural cap on donation growth, the nation has one of the highest rates of per-capita giving in the world, meaning there are many existing donors who could potentially be nudged to give more effectively.

Team

EA NZ is currently run and managed by Rowan Clements (formerly Stanley). Rowan has been with EA NZ for approximately 5 years, and has previous experience as the operations manager for Charity Entrepreneurship incubated charity Family Empowerment Media. She was also one of the lead organisers for EAGxAustralia 2022, and has been heavily involved with the effective altruism community across Australia and New Zealand.

While Rowan is the sole manager of EA NZ’s operations on a day to day basis, the Effective Altruism NZ Charitable Trust is overseen by a board who provide additional support and advice. The current board of trustees includes Catherine Low (Community Liaison at the Centre for Effective Altruism), David Allis, and Brian Walters.

Budget & Funding Gap

Rowan’s work for EA NZ has been supported by the EA Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) for the past two years. However, our effective giving project is now outside of EAIF’s scope. As our current runway ends in October 2024, we are now urgently seeking funding from other sources, including our own donor base. Some members of the EA NZ community have already expressed openness to contributing to our operations, and we are able to cover some costs using the interest earned on donations before their distribution. However, these sources would still leave us with a significant funding shortfall. Consequently, we are seeking $30-80,000 USD to support— and, ideally, expand/stabilise— the project over the course of the next year. If we do not source sufficient funding, we will likely have to wind down operations.

A range of scenarios possible at different levels of funding are presented below:

Maintenance— $30,000 USD p.a.

Budget

0.75-1 FTE salary…………………………………………………….………………………………….…………….. $25,000 USD

Software/expenses…………………………………………………………………………………….……..…………. $5,000 USD

Total…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………….. $30,000 USD

Donation Operations

In this scenario, our effective giving activities would continue largely unchanged, with a focus on managing and maintaining the current donation system. (E.g. processing payments, meeting legal reporting requirements etc.). There would be sufficient capacity to absorb organic growth and seasonal fluctuations in donation volume.

Marketing & Growth

Existing outreach, such as our book giveaway and periodic fundraisers, would continue. However, capacity would be insufficient to pursue more active or expanded marketing and donor retention strategies. 

Impact & Outcomes 

At this level of funding, we anticipate donations continuing to grow at ~1-5% p.a. To enable focus on donation growth, our community building activities, such as career support and retreats, would likely be scaled back to an MVP level, or volunteers from the community sought to manage them. 

Growth— $80,000 USD p.a.

Budget

1 FTE salary…………………………………………………….………………………………….……….…………….. $50,000 USD

Software/expenses……………………………………………………………………………….…………..…………. $5,000 USD

Additional part-time hire/s……………………………………………………………….…….…….…………. $25,000 USD

Total……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………….. $80,000 USD

Donation Operations

This level of funding would free up time for strategic planning and growth. Rowan’s current workload would be reduced by using additional paid software to automate aspects of our system, and, potentially, by contracting a part-time (0.1-0.2 FTE) bookkeeper. Increased growth in donation volume, as well as seasonal fluctuations, could be absorbed without difficulty.

Marketing & Growth

Existing outreach, such as our book giveaway and periodic fundraisers, would continue. We would also contract a part-time (0.1-0.2 FTE) marketing and communications specialist to assist in developing a marketing plan, as well as in creating content for donor retention, email campaigns and social media.

Impact & Outcomes 

With this level of support, significant donation growth seems plausible. While our other community building activities, such as career support and retreats, would likely be scaled back for a time, there would be capacity to investigate future pathways for these projects. (E.g. seeking funding to onboard a community manager).

MVP— $20,000 USD p.a.

Budget

0.5 FTE salary………………………………..……………………………………………………………..…………..  $17,000 USD

Software/expenses……………………………………………………………………….…………………..…………. $3,000 USD

Total…………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………….. $20,000 USD

Donation Operations

In this scenario, we would deprioritize outreach and focus primarily on managing the current donation system. (E.g. processing payments, meeting legal reporting requirements etc.) While generally sufficient for current donation volume, there would be little capacity for expansion or to cope with busy periods such as the EOFY or Christmas. 

Marketing & Growth

While we would continue a bare-bones version of our book giveaway, further marketing or follow-up with lapsed donors would be infeasible, and our fundraising campaigns would have to be simplified or eliminated.

Impact & Outcomes 

We would anticipate donations stagnating at the current ~$1M NZD p.a., with some natural growth offset by donors lost due to slow response times etc. This level of funding would not be sustainable in the long-term, but may provide sufficient runway for us to find alternative solutions.