It'd be great if yall could add a regrantor from the Cooperative AI Foundation / FOCAL / CLR / Encultured region of the research/threatmodel space. (epistemic status: conflict of interest since if you do this I could make a more obvious argument for a project)
I'm generally interested in having a diverse range of regrantors; if you'd like to suggest names/make intros (either here, or privately) please let me know!
How do you feel about people listing projects that are finished but were never funded? I think impact certificates/retroactive grants are better for epistemics, at least for the kind of work I do, and it would be great to have a place for those.
I can't speak for other regrantors, but I'm personally very sympathetic to retroactive grants for impactful work that got less funding than was warranted; we have one example for Vipul Naik's Donations List Website and hope to publish more examples soon!
Manifund is launching a new regranting program! We will allocate ~$2 million over the next six months based on the recommendations of our regrantors. Grantees can apply for funding through our site; we’re also looking for additional regrantors and donors to join.
What is regranting?
Regranting is a funding model where a donor delegates grantmaking budgets to different individuals known as “regrantors”. Regrantors are then empowered to make grant decisions based on the objectives of the original donor.
This model was pioneered by the FTX Future Fund; in a 2022 retro they considered regranting to be very promising at finding new projects and people to fund. More recently, Will MacAskill cited regranting as one way to diversify EA funding.
Our website makes the process simple, transparent, and fast:
A donor contributes money to Manifold for Charity, our registered 501c3 nonprofit
The donor then allocates the money between regrantors of their choice. They can increase budgets for regrantors doing a good job, or pick out new regrantors who share the donor’s values.
Regrantors choose which opportunities (eg existing charities, new projects, or individuals) to spend their budgets on, writing up an explanation for each grant made.
We expect most regrants to start with a conversation between the recipient and the regrantor, and after that, for the process to take less than two weeks.
Alternatively, people looking for funding can post their project on the Manifund site. Donors and regrantors can then decide whether to fund it, similar to Kickstarter.
The Manifund team screens the grant to make sure it is legitimate, legal, and aligned with our mission. If so, we approve the grant, which sends money to the recipient’s Manifund account.
The recipient withdraws money from their Manifund account to be used for their project.
Differences from the Future Fund’s regranting program
Anyone can donate to regrantors. Part of what inspired us to start this program is how hard it is to figure out where to give as a longtermist donor—there’s no GiveWell, no ACE, just a mass of opaque, hard-to-evaluate research orgs. Manifund’s regranting infrastructure lets individual donors outsource their giving decisions to people they trust, who may be more specialized and more qualified at grantmaking.
All grant information is public. This includes the identity of the regrantor and grant recipient, the project description, the grant size, and the regrantor’s writeup. We strongly believe in transparency as it allows for meaningful public feedback, accountability of decisions, and establishment of regrantor track records.
Almost everything is done through our website. This lets us move faster, act transparently, set good defaults, and encourage discourse about the projects in comment sections.
We recognize that not all grants are suited for publishing; for now, we recommend sensitive grants apply to other donors (such as LTFF, SFF, OpenPhil).
We’re starting with less money. The Future Fund ended up distributing ~$100m over the 6 months of their program; we currently have about ~$2m to distribute and are fundraising for more.
Round 1: Longtermist Regrants
We’re launching with a cohort of 14 regrantors, each given a budget of $50k-$400k to direct to projects they believe will be the most impactful. We chose regrantors who are aligned with our values and prioritize mitigating global catastrophic risks, though ultimately regrantors can choose to give to projects under any cause area.
This round is backed by an anonymous donor’s contribution of $1.5 million, plus smaller grants from EA funders. Round 1 will end after this initial pool is spent, or after 6 months have passed.
We’re interested in proposals for AI safety, AI governance, forecasting, biorisk, and EA meta; we expect to best fund individuals and orgs looking for $1k-$200k.
For regrantors: apply for your own regrant budget
We’re accepting applications from people who want to join as regrantors! In some cases, we'll offer to sponsor regrantors and provide budgets, and in others we'll just offer to list regrantors so they can receive donations from other users that they can go on to donate.
For large donors: designate your own regrantors
We’re interested in anyone who would like to direct $100k+ this year through a regranting program. If that is you, reach out to austin@manifund.org or book a call!
Why might you choose to donate via a regranting program?
You care about longtermism, but don’t know which projects need money. Longtermist projects can be speculative, opaque, and nascent, making it harder for you to know where to direct their money. Regranting allows you to outsource these decisions to people who better understand the field.
You have specific regrantors whose judgement you trust. Regranting surfaces opportunities that established EA grantmakers might otherwise miss, as regrantors can tap into their personal networks and fields of expertise. Regrantors can also initiate projects, by reaching out to grantees, launching prizes, and starting orgs.
You want to see your money move quickly. Our regranting model requires less overhead than traditional grantmaking, as one person is responsible for the budget rather than a committee. This also allows for faster grant turnaround times, solving a key pain point for grantees. We think the world would be a better place if impactful projects could start a few weeks to months earlier.
You want to donate through a 501c3. Manifund regrantors can give to other nonprofits, individuals, and for-profit orgs. If you operate a donor-advised fund or want the tax advantages of giving through a 501c3, we can facilitate that, so long as we vet that your regrantors make grants compatible with our charitable mission.
For everyone: talk to us!
We welcome feedback of all kinds. Whether you’re a potential grantee, regrantor, or donor, we’d love to hear about your pain points with existing funding systems, and what kinds of projects you find exciting. Hop in our Discord and come chat with us, or comment on specific projects through our site!
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