Donation Election Fund: Rewards and Matching

By Toby Tremlett🔹 @ 2025-10-31T14:14 (+21)

The money in the fund when voting closes on December 7 will be split between the three organisations who receive the most points in the Donation Election. Voting will work the same as last year, though it will open on November 24.

CEA will match 1:1 the first $5000 donated^[1].

Rewards for donors

If you donate, you’ll be eligible for the rewards below:

For illustrative purposes only. The real version will make those who don't have one *very* jealous. I'll give donors the opportunity to give design notes.

We also have some collective targets. If the total in the pot (including the matching funds) reach a certain threshold, we all get a reward. See below:

If the fund gets…	Forum users get…
>$15,000	The Forum audience will propose and vote on a debate week topic next year, and I’ll run it during Q1.
>$30,000	A charity auction^[2] on the EA Forum, where users can offer a favour in return for a donation to their preferred charity.
>$45,000	The Forum audience can come up with a one-day holiday (like Petrov day) which we will commit to honouring for the next two years (and possibly beyond).

FAQ

Why should I donate to the Donation Election Fund?

Contributing to the Donation Election Fund could be a good way to improve how Giving Season goes this year, while also directing more funding to promising projects that could productively use it.

You might believe that the Donation Election will choose more cost-effective projects than you would, or subvert biases which you wouldn't endorse on reflection. Although you can also donate to a fund if this is your main objective.
Donating could improve the EA community’s understanding of key questions related to effective giving and boost the extent to which effective giving is a core part of effective altruism.
- A larger Donation Election Fund would encourage more and better participation in these events — increasing the events’ impact. People would feel more motivated to follow the discussions, share their uncertainties or disagreements, explain in greater detail what their projects do and how they would use extra money, etc.
- This is important because many people discovered the EA community in the past couple of years, and probably missed a lot of discussions on donation choice, considerations around earning to give, and other topics in effective giving. And even people who've been around the movement for much longer might have gone a while without examining their thoughts on these topics. The Donation Election will lead to conversations: we’ll have live votes on the banner after the first few days, and a discussion thread for people to explain their votes. We hope this will lead to (re)litigation of important donation considerations, and improve our collective knowledge.
- Donating will also likely make the donors themselves feel more invested in Giving Season and the Donation Election, and contribute more to the event, making it a particularly vibrant time on the Forum.
You might want to donate to multiple different kinds of projects in order to make changing your mind about cause prioritization easier, or maybe to hedge your donations. Donating to the Donation Election Fund could help you make impactful donations that you wouldn't have otherwise considered making.

Why should I not donate to the Donation Election Fund?

You probably shouldn't donate to the Donation Election Fund if you have good reason to think your money will do more good given to a specific donation opportunity. For example, if you have privileged knowledge about a particular opportunity.

Also, if the charities you would most want to vote for aren't 501(c)3's in the US or registered charities in the UK (or fiscally sponsored by one of those), they won't be included in the Donation Election.

I'm a UK Donor, will I be able to giftaid my donation?

Unfortunately not. This was a trade-off we decided to take in order to allow a broader range of charities to take part in the Donation Election. Since we are hosting the fund on every.org, there won't be an option for giftaid.

Do I need to donate to vote?

No, and donating will not affect your voting power. To qualify to vote, you must have had an account on the Forum before the Giving Season announcement was posted (October 24). If you have multiple accounts, you can only vote once.

Let me know in the comments or dm me if you have more questions. If they are frequently asked, I'll edit my answers into the text and link them for you.

^{^}
You should probably view the match as a signal that we’re taking the Donation Election Fund seriously, and possibly as an opportunity to move funds designated for CEA towards projects chosen by Forum users. Whether or not this match is “counterfactual” is complicated- the match amount will likely be hit pretty quickly, so you are unlikely to genuinely add $40 to the pot by donating $20, if you donate while the match is still in effect.
^{^}
This is slightly pending legal advice - I’ve looked into it and it seems good, but it might be phrased/ run a little differently than described.

Toby Tremlett🔹 @ 2025-11-06T10:30 (+4)

A rat (in a fedora) for a kind donor!

If you donate…	You get…
>$10	An "I donated" flair until the end of Giving Season. In other words, one of these guys next to your name on the Forum, so everyone knows you're cool.
>$50	A bad animal drawing, featuring an animal (and optionally a prop) of your choice. We'll comment or quick take these onto the Forum, with you tagged (I'll message you for an OK on tagging before posting). For example, this protesting octopus:
>$500	A 3D printed trophy - possibly Bulby themed. Posted to your door! For illustrative purposes only. The real version will make those who don't have one very jealous. I'll give donors the opportunity to give design notes.