“What I didn’t expect about being a funder” by JamesÖz 🔸

<p> Crossposted from my blog</p><p> I am very fortunate to have my job in many ways – I get to talk to, learn from, and give money to amazing people and nonprofits all around the world. I get to allocate a modest amount of resources to incredible organisations that I think are doing some of the best work to improve the world. I don’t have to fundraise for my or my team's salaries anymore. However, there are some things I’ve learned since becoming a philanthropic grantmaker that were either surprising or affected me more strongly than I expected.</p><p> I will outline some of these below. These are not meant to invoke feelings of “oh poor grantmakers who have access to money and influence” but rather “oh, I never considered things from that perspective”. Hopefully, they will also lead to more productive working relationships between funders and advocacy groups.</p><p> Here, I discuss:</p><ul> <li> How challenging the trade-offs are that funders face</li><li> The extremely poor feedback mechanisms that nonprofits have</li><li> How people treat you differently once you have access to funding, and how that changes you</li><li> The weight of saying no to good groups</li><li> Some things that make me feel cynical</li></ul><p><strong> Trade-offs [...]</strong></p> <p>---</p><p><strong>Outline:</strong></p><p>(01:18) Trade-offs are hard and money is scarce</p><p>(06:35) Nonprofits have bad feedback mechanisms</p><p>(13:00) How people treat you differently (and how that changes you)</p><p>(14:52) Its hard to say no to people</p><p>(16:08) Its easy to become cynical</p><p>(19:38) Wrapping up</p> <p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> March 11th, 2026 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/umicYzuRsm6okFRKA/what-i-didn-t-expect-about-being-a-funder?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Source+URL+in+episode+description&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/umicYzuRsm6okFRKA/what-i-didn-t-expect-about-being-a-funder</a> </p> <p>---</p> <p>Narrated by <a href="https://type3.audio/?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Narrated+by+TYPE+III+AUDIO&utm_term=ea_forum&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TYPE III AUDIO</a>.</p>