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We publish blog posts to explain our general philosophy on giving, reflect on our progress thus far, announce our plans for the future, and more.

Blogs

Initial Grants to Support Corporate Cage-free Reforms

By

Lewis Bollard

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Blog Posts

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March 31, 2016

When I started as the Open Philanthropy Project’s Farm Animal Welfare Program Officer in October, I decided to prioritize investigating opportunities to speed up the corporate transition away from using eggs from caged hens. Based on that investigation, the Open Philanthropy Project recommended three grants, totaling $2.5 million over two...
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Supporting the Launch of the Alliance for Safety and Justice

By

Helen Toner

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Blog Posts

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February 10, 2016

The Open Philanthropy Project has recommended a grant of $1.75 million (plus a personal gift from Cari Tuna of $250,000) to launch the Alliance for Safety and Justice (ASJ), a multi-state policy reform organization. This will be one of our first large grant recommendations within criminal justice reform since Chloe...
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Our Grantmaking So Far: Approach and Process

By

Helen Toner

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Reflections

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February 9, 2016

We’ve written previously about our approach to choosing focus areas for the Open Philanthropy Project, and we’ve described the advantages that working within causes (as opposed to being open to making grants in any area at any time) has for grantmaking. To date, however, we haven’t said much about our...
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America’s Recently Heralded Urban “Crime Wave” May Already Have Peaked

By

David Roodman

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Blog Posts

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February 2, 2016

Writing in the Wall Street Journal last May, the Manhattan Institute’s Heather Mac Donald blackly heralded a “new nationwide crime wave.” She blamed the “Ferguson effect”: a pull-back by police in the face of public hostility over alleged abuses. Ferguson, of course, is the city in St. Louis county where in August...
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Should the Open Philanthropy Project be Recommending More/Larger Grants?

By

Holden Karnofsky

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Blog Posts

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November 17, 2015

Editor’s note: Coefficient Giving was formerly a part of GiveWell under the name “GiveWell Labs,” and later operated as Open Philanthropy. This post originally appeared on the GiveWell Blog; uses of “we” and “our” in the below post may refer to GiveWell. Some content may be outdated; you can see...
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Differential Technological Development: Some Early Thinking

By

Nick Beckstead

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Blog Posts

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September 30, 2015

Editor’s note: Coefficient Giving was formerly a part of GiveWell under the name “GiveWell Labs,” and later operated as Open Philanthropy. This post originally appeared on the GiveWell Blog; uses of “we” and “our” in the below post may refer to GiveWell. Some content may be outdated; you can see...
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Open Philanthropy Project Update

By

Holden Karnofsky

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Reflections

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September 17, 2015

Editor’s note: Coefficient Giving was formerly a part of GiveWell under the name “GiveWell Labs,” and later operated as Open Philanthropy. This post originally appeared on the GiveWell Blog; uses of “we” and “our” in the below post may refer to GiveWell. Some content may be outdated; you can see...
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Incoming Program Officer: Lewis Bollard

By

Holden Karnofsky

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Announcements

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September 11, 2015

Editor’s note: Coefficient Giving was formerly a part of GiveWell under the name “GiveWell Labs,” and later operated as Open Philanthropy. This post originally appeared on the GiveWell Blog; uses of “we” and “our” in the below post may refer to GiveWell. Some content may be outdated; you can see...
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History of Philanthropy Case Study: The Impact of Philanthropy on the Passage of the Affordable Care Act

By

Milan Griffes

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History of Philanthropy

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September 2, 2015

Atlantic Philanthropies helped fund Health Care for America Now!, a coalition of grassroots advocates who mobilized public support for comprehensive health reform. While the scale of philanthropy’s influence is hard to precisely quantify, Benjamin Soskis suggests that sustained funding for advocacy played a critical role in passing the Affordable Care Act in 2010.
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Coming Down to Earth: What if a Big Geomagnetic Storm Does Hit?

By

David Roodman

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Blog Posts

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August 21, 2015

Editor’s note: Coefficient Giving was formerly a part of GiveWell under the name “GiveWell Labs,” and later operated as Open Philanthropy. This post originally appeared on the GiveWell Blog; uses of “we” and “our” in the below post may refer to GiveWell. Some content may be outdated; you can see...
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