Do you see a pattern here?
- EA Fund’s Long-Term Future Fund
- FTX Future Fund
- Center on Long-Term Risk
- The Future of Life Institute
I claim that EA funding has neglected a critical cause area: the past.
To that end, I’m announcing the SOS Brigade’s Past Fund (SBPF). I intend to disburse 10% of my pre-tax income to people and orgs I believe have done good work, in the past.
What is “SOS Brigade”?
That’s the name of my personal Donor Advised Fund, because I’m a huge geek.
What are you looking for?
- Projects that received very little recognition or funding, relative to the impact they have had
- Projects that appeal to my personal weird sensibilities
- People who are likely to have good understandings about what to do with the money
- I’m not yet confident about this point, it might veer too much into “funding the future”
How much will be distributed?
I currently draw a salary of $99k from Manifold Markets, plus I have gains from investments, so in the near term, about $10-15k a year.
But most of my net worth and expected compensation comes from my ~21% stake in Manifold (which recently raised at a $22M postmoney cap); every year I vest a quarter of that, so this represents a 10% * 21% * $22M * 1/4 = ~$100k/year commitment, modulo fluctuations in Manifold’s valuation and liquidity!
(I have not yet decided if this means I should actually commit that fraction of equity into the fund each year, or during the tax year I would have realized the value of equity)
How will this be distributed?
In the long run (3-6 months), via an impact certificate system that I or Manifold builds.
Until then, I intend to give out 5 $1k grants in May just to test out this concept.
What you can do today
- Apply for a grant by creating a prediction market on Manifold: “Will <X past project> win an SBPF grant”
- Note: You may apply