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The Open Philanthropy Project Is Now an Independent Organization | Coefficient Giving

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This 2017 announcement describes Open Philanthropy's spin-out from GiveWell as an independent organization. Open Philanthropy is a major funder of AI safety research, so understanding its organizational structure and history is relevant to the AI safety funding landscape.

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Importance: 28/100blog postnews

Summary

In June 2017, the Open Philanthropy Project formally separated from GiveWell to become an independent LLC, ending a partnership that began in 2011. The split reflected the two organizations' divergent missions: GiveWell focuses on evidence-backed, cost-effective charities for individual donors, while Open Philanthropy targets major philanthropists and neglected, high-upside cause areas. The separation was approved unanimously by GiveWell's board and took effect June 1, 2017.

Key Points

  • •Open Philanthropy officially spun out from GiveWell as an independent LLC effective June 1, 2017, after over a year of planning.
  • •GiveWell Labs (founded 2011) partnered with Cari Tuna and Dustin Moskovitz's Good Ventures before rebranding as Open Philanthropy Project in 2014.
  • •The two organizations diverged in mission: GiveWell emphasizes evidence-backed charities; Open Philanthropy focuses on neglected, tractable, high-upside causes.
  • •Dustin Moskovitz and Cari Tuna were expected to continue supporting GiveWell even after the separation.
  • •The separation was driven by increasingly separate teams, brands, and missions that made independent operation more beneficial for both organizations.

1 FactBase fact citing this source

EntityPropertyValueAs Of
Coefficient GivingLegal StructureLimited liability company (LLC)—

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 June 12, 2017 
 The Open Philanthropy Project Is Now an Independent Organization

 
 
 
 By
 Holden Karnofsky
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 Editor’s note: This article was published under our former name, The Open Philanthropy Project. Some content may be outdated. You can see our latest writing  here . Holden Karnofsky is a co-founder and the former CEO of Open Philanthropy. He  left Open Philanthropy  in April 2024. 

 Over a year ago, we started exploring options for spinning the Open Philanthropy Project out from GiveWell as an independent organization. Though the process took a bit longer than we had hoped, the new legal arrangement took effect on June 1.

 This post covers the evolution of the Open Philanthropy Project into an independent entity, and the reasons for the spin-out from our perspective. It also discusses why we’re operating the Open Philanthropy Project as an LLC, and what our relationship to GiveWell will be going forward. (For some more technical details on the transaction, see the GiveWell post here .)

 This transition has been in motion for some time, and we expect that the bulk of our operations will appear unchanged to outsiders. 

 The evolution of the Open Philanthropy Project into an independent entity

 In 2011, GiveWell launched GiveWell Labs as an arm of research open to any giving opportunity, no matter what form and what sector. GiveWell Labs partnered with Cari Tuna and Dustin Moskovitz of the philanthropic foundation Good Ventures , with whom we felt deeply aligned on values and mission. In 2014, the partnership rebranded as the Open Philanthropy Project but remained part of GiveWell.

 From the beginning, the Open Philanthropy Project aimed at a different audience from GiveWell: a few major philanthropists rather than many individual donors. It took a different approach from GiveWell, dropping the emphasis on evidence-backed, cost-effective, scalable organizations in favor of important, neglected, tractable causes , often with an emphasis on upside (and comfort with debatable judgment calls). GiveWell , which Elie Hassenfeld and I launched in 2007, continues to recommend evidence-backed charities to donors of all sizes.

 We continue to think that GiveWell’s work is outstanding and anticipate that Dustin and Cari will continue to be among the largest supporters of GiveWell operations and recommended charities.

 But over the years, as we built up increasingly separate teams and missions, it became clear that if we encountered each other today we would not make the decision to merge, and that each group had more to gain than lose as separate organizations in the future. So we decided more than a year ago that we would explore options for spinn

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