AI safety fundraising tip #1: Actually be high impact.
This is the best way to raise a lot of money. It's all an uphill battle if you're trying to convince people that you're high impact when you're not.
Also, it could even be net negative because you are taking money away from projects that actually are higher impact.
AI safety fundraising tip #2: The easiest to implement way to improve a grant application is to use Google Docs templates.
They will make your application look so much more professional, and it takes just a minute or two of effort.
You don't have to be a good designer or have an aesthetic eye to make things look a lot better. Just use the work other people have already put out there.
Just click "create new doc" and then click "from a template"
This is the best way to raise a lot of money. It's all an uphill battle if you're trying to convince people that you're high impact when you're not.
Also, it could even be net negative because you are taking money away from projects that actually are higher impact.
AI safety fundraising tip #2: The easiest to implement way to improve a grant application is to use Google Docs templates.
They will make your application look so much more professional, and it takes just a minute or two of effort.
You don't have to be a good designer or have an aesthetic eye to make things look a lot better. Just use the work other people have already put out there.
Just click "create new doc" and then click "from a template"
AI safety fundraising tip #3: You are shooting yourself in the foot if your headers and title are boring and uninformative.
Most funders will just be skimming and they will never read the rest of it. Make it so that if they just read the headers they would have a pretty good idea of what was going on.
Do not, I repeat, do NOT, use a header to say “introduction”.
Introduction provides virtually zero information. Instead, introduce yourself in the introduction header. Ideally share the one sentence description of what it is you're doing or asking for.
Spend a lot of time editing your headers and titles. Treat them like prime real estate.
AI safety fundraising tip #4: Fundraise in parallel, not sequentially.
A lot of funders take a long time to get back and in the meantime you could run out of money.
AI safety fundraising tip #5: Be frugal, especially at the beginning.
If you don't have a track record yet it's much harder to tell if you'll be able to do much good with the money.
If you ask for a smaller amount it's a much better trade-off for the funder.
Also, frugality gives you a lot more flexibility and makes you a lot less beholden to the funders. If you need less money, you need to worry less about fluctuations in funding availability, and need to worry less about what funders think about your project and you can focus more on what you think is highest impact.
AI safety fundraising tip #6: If you work on something technical, get really good at explaining it to non-technical people.
A lot of AI safety funders want to find things but are not technical themselves. They are limited to delegating their donations to funds, like Manifund regrantors or the EA funds, if they want to donate to technical things.
If you can explain what you're doing to somebody non-technical, you will open up a whole bunch of funders who will otherwise not be available to you.
Work especially hard on your elevator pitch. On your one sentence and one minute explanation of what you do. See if you can make your grandfather understand what you're doing.
AI safety fundraising tip #7: Check out the AI safety map.
It shows you all of the major funders in AI safety in the funding section.
AI safety fundraising tip #8: If you are new to the field, it will take a while for people to find you credible.
Don't take it personally. This is true for everybody.
AI safety fundraising tip #9: If you are just getting started and don't have a track record yet, you can get free housing at EA Houses for the EA Hotel.
This can help you establish a track record off of little to no money at the beginning.
It's also a great rite of passage for entrepreneurial types.
AI safety fundraising tip #10: Pick what you think is highest impact first, then try to figure out how to fundraise for it.
Do not start with what you think funders will fund. If what you are doing is genuinely high impact and you are resourceful, you will be able to make it work.
Some of the biggest EA funders did not want to fund Conjecture. Connor Leahy, an amazing entrepreneur, found a way (he got VC funding instead). He is now one of the most influential people in AI safety.
AI safety fundraising tip #11: Be willing to sleep on a couch or move in with your parents.
Imagine an unaligned AI took over because somebody was too embarrassed to live with their parents for a bit.
If you want to succeed at AI safety entrepreneurship, you have to be willing to do what it takes.
It's not just that you need grit and resourcefulness and a do-what-it-takes attitude to be a successful AI safety entrepreneur.
It also gives you a sense of safety.
You can feel safe if you know that the worst that can happen to you is not that bad. It's just crashing on a friend's couch for a bit or living with your parents while you establish a track record or figure out the next plan.
It is similar to the freedom of frugality.
If you'd like more advice on fundraising, you might also like:
Most funders will just be skimming and they will never read the rest of it. Make it so that if they just read the headers they would have a pretty good idea of what was going on.
Do not, I repeat, do NOT, use a header to say “introduction”.
Introduction provides virtually zero information. Instead, introduce yourself in the introduction header. Ideally share the one sentence description of what it is you're doing or asking for.
Spend a lot of time editing your headers and titles. Treat them like prime real estate.
AI safety fundraising tip #4: Fundraise in parallel, not sequentially.
A lot of funders take a long time to get back and in the meantime you could run out of money.
AI safety fundraising tip #5: Be frugal, especially at the beginning.
If you don't have a track record yet it's much harder to tell if you'll be able to do much good with the money.
If you ask for a smaller amount it's a much better trade-off for the funder.
Also, frugality gives you a lot more flexibility and makes you a lot less beholden to the funders. If you need less money, you need to worry less about fluctuations in funding availability, and need to worry less about what funders think about your project and you can focus more on what you think is highest impact.
AI safety fundraising tip #6: If you work on something technical, get really good at explaining it to non-technical people.
A lot of AI safety funders want to find things but are not technical themselves. They are limited to delegating their donations to funds, like Manifund regrantors or the EA funds, if they want to donate to technical things.
If you can explain what you're doing to somebody non-technical, you will open up a whole bunch of funders who will otherwise not be available to you.
Work especially hard on your elevator pitch. On your one sentence and one minute explanation of what you do. See if you can make your grandfather understand what you're doing.
AI safety fundraising tip #7: Check out the AI safety map.
It shows you all of the major funders in AI safety in the funding section.
AI safety fundraising tip #8: If you are new to the field, it will take a while for people to find you credible.
Don't take it personally. This is true for everybody.
AI safety fundraising tip #9: If you are just getting started and don't have a track record yet, you can get free housing at EA Houses for the EA Hotel.
This can help you establish a track record off of little to no money at the beginning.
It's also a great rite of passage for entrepreneurial types.
AI safety fundraising tip #10: Pick what you think is highest impact first, then try to figure out how to fundraise for it.
Do not start with what you think funders will fund. If what you are doing is genuinely high impact and you are resourceful, you will be able to make it work.
Some of the biggest EA funders did not want to fund Conjecture. Connor Leahy, an amazing entrepreneur, found a way (he got VC funding instead). He is now one of the most influential people in AI safety.
AI safety fundraising tip #11: Be willing to sleep on a couch or move in with your parents.
Imagine an unaligned AI took over because somebody was too embarrassed to live with their parents for a bit.
If you want to succeed at AI safety entrepreneurship, you have to be willing to do what it takes.
It's not just that you need grit and resourcefulness and a do-what-it-takes attitude to be a successful AI safety entrepreneur.
It also gives you a sense of safety.
You can feel safe if you know that the worst that can happen to you is not that bad. It's just crashing on a friend's couch for a bit or living with your parents while you establish a track record or figure out the next plan.
It is similar to the freedom of frugality.
If you'd like more advice on fundraising, you might also like:
- Kat's 80/20 Fundraising Advice
- Zvi's advice on applying to SFF
- Fundraising advice that's catered to your particular situation on a free coaching call with Kat Woods (more information here)