How does the collapse of the FTX Future Fund change the picture for individual donors?

By vipulnaik @ 2022-12-01T04:59 (+31)

In a post in October, I outlined my thoughts at the time regarding where I'll make my end-of-year donation. In there, I noted that while I think that many cause areas that fall under "longtermism" are likely very important, the significant funding being directed at them from FTX Future Fund and Survival and Flourishing Fund makes these causes non-neglected. That was one of the reasons I was leaning toward making my end-of-year donation to the Animal Welfare Fund instead of the Long-Term Future Fund.

This was before the November 2022 collapse of FTX and of the FTX Future Fund. I'm wondering how to think about the effect of the collapse of the FTX Future Fund on the funding available for "longtermist" projects in general, and how this should affect individual donors such as myself.

In particular, some of the things I've been wondering are:

• How effectively does the Long-Term Future Fund (the main donation option for individual donors) funge with FTX Future Fund in terms of the projects and organizations funded? How much does the collapse of the FTX Future Fund increase the room for more funding for the Long-Term Future Fund?

• Are there specific other donees that have become particularly relevant for individual donors in light of the collapse of the FTX Future Fund? An example (that I don't know much about) is the Nonlinear Emergency Fund intended to help FTX grantees, that seemed to indicate that they have room for more funding.

• Does the continually developing nature of the FTX collapse situation make it more important to hold funds for now and donate them a little later once the ramifications are clearer? Or is it the opposite, namely, that there is a more urgent need for funds and therefore it's more important to donate more now?

• Are there other related questions and considerations that I'm missing?

I don't know how the answers to the above questions will affect my donation decision (it's possible that my donation decision will ultimately be influenced by personal factors specific to me). I hope that any answers or comments generated by this post will be helpful not just to me but to other potential donors wondering how the FTX collapse situation affects them.