EA Forum Podcast (All audio)

As part of the EA Forum's 2025 Marginal Funding Week, we’d like to share with you Wild Animal Initiative's needs for additional funding, what we would do with it, and how you can help us build a scientific field dedicated to understanding wild animal welfare.

Summary

Wild Animal Initiative's mission is to accelerate science that helps wild animals — a vast and neglected moral priority. Our strategy focuses on field-building: generating new welfare-relevant knowledge, growing the global community of researchers, and directing more resources toward wild animal welfare science.

But the funding landscape for our work has an uncertain future. With Open Philanthropy exiting this cause area and other large funders shifting priorities, individual donors now play an unusually pivotal role in sustaining progress and preventing the field from losing momentum.

Our 2026 target budget is $4.1 million, supporting our core programs in research, grants, academic outreach, and community infrastructure — plus hiring two new staff to strengthen researcher support and diversify funding. With an additional $3.1 million beyond our target budget, we could achieve our “aspirational” budget, enabling high-leverage projects such as accelerating rodent contraception R&D and establishing research hubs at major universities.

Your support helps boost the [...]

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Outline:

(00:36) Summary

(02:03) Why give to Wild Animal Initiative?

(03:40) Our field-building strategy is no longer just hypothetical: It's working.

(04:45) We've experienced variability with the biggest funders in the movement, so funders like you have a real opportunity to make a difference.

(05:57) Animal Charity Evaluators has recommended Wild Animal Initiative every year since 2020.

(06:18) Room for Funding

(07:09) How we would use extra funding

(07:13) Target budget

(07:28) 1. Maintain our usual field-building programs at full capacity.

(10:15) 2. Hire a new member of our Services Team to sustain and strengthen the infrastructure for our scientific community.

(10:51) 3. Hire a Foundations Relations Manager to expand our fundraising capacity and diversify our funding.

(12:30) Aspirational budget

(12:37) 1. Accelerating rodent contraception research and development.

(16:06) 2. Institutionalizing wild animal welfare at universities.

(18:18) We value transparency and we welcome you to contact us if you have any questions. Donate here to support our work and make the world a better place for wild animals.

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First published:

November 18th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/wJnEm7hbKBvDaAa6p/funding-priorities-for-wild-animal-initiative-in-2026-1

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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TL;DR

• Fortify Health is seeking $10,000 USD in marginal funding to deploy a solution that has the ability to eliminate the most significant bottleneck for wheat flour fortification, namely: ensuring the right level of micronutrients are being added in close to real time. We would also happily accept pro-bono or in-kind support from individuals or organisations that may have the skill set to deliver this project. The full project budget is $60,000 USD. 
• The problem: Anaemia is one of India's (and frankly the globe's) most severe public health challenges, affecting 67% of young children and 52% of pregnant women. Across the 16 states where Fortify Health operates, an estimated ~459 million people suffer from anaemia, driving substantial health and economic losses (1.18% of GDP annually).
• Fortify Health is on a mission to reduce iron-deficiency anaemia (IDA) in India. We do this by making it hassle-free to fortify wheat flour. Fortify Health partners with wheat flour mills to fortify flour with iron, folic acid, and Vitamin B12 to address anaemia. Last month, we reached more than 11 million people at an annualised cost of $0.22 per person and estimate we averted 2,928 years of life with anaemia. We estimate that [...]

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Outline:

(00:14) TL;DR

(03:29) Anaemia is a massive public health issue

(04:57) Fortification is a highly cost-effective intervention

(07:30) A key bottleneck: quality assurance

(09:51) Anticipated impact of an AI-enabled system: Lower costs, improved quality

(15:32) Impact throughout the fortification sector

(17:10) Major Uncertainties

(19:04) Funding Gap and Marginal Funding

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First published:

November 18th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/frGyJwQ7nwJTjG44o/a-high-leverage-bet-usd10k-to-remove-the-biggest-bottleneck

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Lafiya provides modern contraceptives to women who need it and want it, no matter where they live. Lafiya currently operates in four states in northern Nigeria, bringing high-quality family planning counselling and products to women in rural communities. We recruit existing community health workers, on government payroll, and give them specialised training in family planning and a small additional stipend. We launched in 2021 and were incubated by Charity Entrepreneurship in 2023. To date, we have reached 350,000+ women with contraceptive access. 49% of our users receive family planning services for the first time in their lives.

Lafiya has seen rapid growth in the last years, but millions of women in Nigeria remain without access to family planning services. The withdrawal of USAID and other bilateral donors has reduced the national budget for buying contraceptives, and community-based work that reaches counterfactual users beyond health care clinics (our speciality) is neglected. With or without bilateral funding, we are ready to do what we can to ensure women are not dying on our watch.

For 2026, we are facing a $950k funding gap on a $2.63M budget. Our current funding raised ($1.68M) will enable us to sustain operations in the four [...]

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First published:

November 18th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/PDApxsTy4yJrMuoAY/lafiya-s-current-funding-gap

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

As part of the EA community's Marginal Funding Week, we want to share where Aquatic Life Institute stands at the end of 2025: our impact this year, the $291K remaining funding gap, and how $100K in individual donations this Giving Season could directly reinforce global aquatic welfare reform.

This post also links to The Invisible Majority, our year-end campaign highlighting why aquatic animals, who make up the overwhelming majority of animals in global food systems, remain underrepresented in both policy and philanthropy.

Learn more and donate: The Invisible Majority

TL;DR

• Funding gap: USD 291,000 remaining to close ALI's 2025 budget ($1.25M total; $954K secured).
• Goal for Giving Season: Raise $100K in individual donations toward closing the gap
• Why it matters: Aquatic animals represent the vast majority of animals used in global food systems, yet their welfare remains largely invisible in global food systems. ALI is the only organization systematically reforming the standards, policies, and institutions that shape their lives.
  
   

Why Aquatic Welfare?

Aquatic animals make up the vast, unseen majority of animals used for food, yet are excluded from most welfare and sustainability frameworks. This remains one of the largest and most neglected moral frontiers.

Aquatic [...]

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Outline:

(00:54) TL;DR

(01:37) Why Aquatic Welfare?

(02:17) 2025. Impact Highlights

(05:12) Funding outlook:

(05:43) The Opportunity: $291K in Marginal Funding

(08:43) How Marginal Funding Translates to Impact

(09:01) Expected Marginal Return

(09:35) Why Now

(10:10) Get Involved or Learn More

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First published:

November 18th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/sBGo2Dkpp9Lzjdtmg/high-leverage-systemic-change-for-aquatic-animals-the-case

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

THL exists to end the abuse of animals raised for food. Through strategic corporate negotiations, policy change, and movement building, we meaningfully reduce the suffering of millions of animals on factory farms around the world each year. THL currently has a funding gap of $3.6M for 2025. Beyond that, we have developed detailed plans to absorb over $4M in additional funding to high-impact interventions to reduce the suffering of chickens, the most widely abused land animals. With these funds, we would allocate roughly:

• $1M to Open Wing Alliance (OWA) program expansion and $1M in additional OWA regranting funds in support of our goals to spare 300M hens from cages globally and 1.3B chickens raised for meat from cruelty by 2030
• $1M to US corporate cage-free accountability in support of our goal to reach a critical tipping point where two-thirds of hens in the US are spared from cages by 2030
• $250,000 to Animal Policy Alliance (APA) program expansion and $750,000 to APA regranting in support of our goal to build political power in the US and pass increasingly ambitious legislation to protect farm animals.

THL's Room for More Funding

Grow the Open Wing Alliance

THL founded and leads [...]

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Outline:

(01:34) THL's Room for More Funding

(01:38) Grow the Open Wing Alliance

(04:09) Hold US Companies Accountable for their Cage-free Commitments

(05:11) Resource the Animal Policy Alliance (APA)

(06:20) Why Give to THL

(08:09) Opportunities to Support THL

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First published:

November 18th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/uHCwShQGftcq3Sf39/accelerating-the-end-of-cages-thl-s-room-for-more-funding

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

When Peter Wildeford and I founded Rethink Priorities (RP) in 2018, we saw a gap in the charity landscape: too few organizations were providing the rigorous comparative analysis needed to allocate resources optimally. Seven years later, thanks to the trust and support of this community, RP has become one of the few research organizations pioneering work in areas that didn't exist as distinct fields when we began.

Since our early days, RP has grown into a think-and-do tank that combines careful analysis with practical action to make progress on global priorities. We think our comparative advantage lies in working upstream, and so aim to contribute where rigorous thinking and early, well-informed decisions can make a meaningful difference.

We've adopted a cross-cause perspective because we believe understanding trade-offs and connections between areas like animal welfare, global health, and longtermist priorities is important for long-term impact. By helping funders assess opportunities across causes using transparent, evidence-based frameworks, we hope to support better resource allocation. And when we identify emerging areas like digital consciousness or invertebrate welfare before they're crowded, we can influence trajectories while fields are still being shaped.

Thanks to this approach, we delivered the following 2025 outcomes [...]

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Outline:

(03:47) Rethink Priorities 2025 results

(09:00) Challenges and learnings

(11:05) Our plans for 2026

(13:48) Our funding needs and how you can help

(14:41) How unrestricted funding unlocks efficiencies and creates catalytic impact

(16:46) Fund a cause area or project that aligns with your priorities

(18:46) Multiple ways to give and connect with us

(19:47) Results and priorities in the different areas of our work

(19:52) Worldview Investigations

(19:57) Strategy

(21:35) Achievements in 2025

(23:13) Plans for 2026

(23:18) Cross-cause prioritization

(25:03) New AI Cognition Initiative

(26:03) Funding needs for 2026

(27:59) Global Health and Development

(28:03) Strategy

(29:12) Achievements in 2025

(34:19) Challenges in 2025

(35:03) Plans for 2026 and funding opportunities

(40:05) Animal Welfare

(40:09) Strategy

(42:08) Achievements in 2025

(43:38) Challenges in 2025

(44:52) Plans for 2026

(46:56) Funding needs for 2026

(51:52) Surveys and Data Analysis

(51:57) Strategy

(53:24) Achievements in 2025

(54:29) Funding needs for 2026

(56:14) AI Strategy

(56:17) Strategy

(57:43) Plans for 2026

(59:19) Funding needs for 2026

(01:00:23) Special Projects

(01:00:27) Strategy

(01:01:03) Special Projects 2025 in numbers

(01:02:09) Project impact highlights

(01:06:38) Quotes from project directors

(01:08:32) Plans for 2026

(01:08:59) Thank you

(01:09:35) Acknowledgments

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First published:

November 18th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/CjPexDkSHoRpknNGv/rethink-priorities-2025-results-2026-plans-and-funding-needs

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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From summer 2024 up to summer 2025, I had been keeping track of these resources in a private Google Doc shared only with a couple of people. I realized others might benefit too, so here is the latest version, last-updated on August 7th, 2025.

You'll find a few references that are missing from the list below in my post Discussions of Longtermism should focus on the problem of Unawareness (October 20th, 2025).

See also DiGiovanni's Resource guide: Unawareness, indeterminacy, and cluelessness (July 7th, 2025) for a cluelessness Q&A and pointers to what references address what.

See also this comment of mine (September 15th, 2025) for a brief overview of key debates surrounding cluelessness.

See also DiGiovanni's What to do about near-term cluelessness in animal welfare (October 8th, 2025) and Graham's If wild animal welfare is intractable, everything is intractable. (November 14th, 2025) for cluelessness concerns (and what to make of them) in animal welfare, in particular.

On reasons to be clueless about how to increase welfare impartially

• Anthony DiGiovanni's (2025) sequence The challenge of unawareness for impartial altruist action guidance
• Christian Tarsney et al. (2024) Moral Decision-Making Under Uncertainty, Section 3. Cluelessness and Deep Uncertainty
• Andreas Mogensen [...]

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Outline:

(01:18) On reasons to be clueless about how to increase welfare impartially

(04:06) Attempts to debunk these reasons for cluelessness

(07:37) On indeterminate beliefs

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First published:

November 17th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/AHMCWEaQW6gLzrEHt/a-list-of-resources-on-cluelessness

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

tl;dr: Sentinel is an open-source intelligence organization that rapidly identifies and reacts to global risks, particularly ones difficult to anticipate over longer time-horizons. We have filled $700K of our ~$1.6M budget and are looking to fill the rest to expand and sustain our large-scale open source monitoring for GCR.

About Sentinel

Sentinel is an open-source intelligence organization that focuses on rapidly identifying and reacting to global risks. During times of relative calm we build tooling and use the judgment of world-class forecasters to monitor events that could escalate into global catastrophes on relatively short timescales. We then distribute our resulting analysis through our weekly brief and on Twitter, which builds the distribution capacity and reputation that will allow for high leverage during times of crisis. During times of turmoil we focus on fast, permissionless action, like that of VaccinateCA.

Over the next few years, as AI gets more capable and more integrated, dangers will become more hectic and more common, and observe-orient-decide-act loops (or even just the observe step) around new dangers will need to become faster for them to make a difference. Big-picture strategic-thinking is valuable when it works, but it often misses key details that a dedicated [...]

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Outline:

(00:36) About Sentinel

(02:48) Verticals & Concrete Projects

(02:52) OSINT & Epistemics Software

(04:53) Foresight Team

(06:18) Emergency response

(11:44) Content & Distribution

(12:45) Team

(14:44) Track Record & Recent Progress

(14:48) Foresight

(16:07) Software

(16:38) Distribution

(17:42) Emergency response

(18:03) Impact estimate

(19:40) How Sentinel fits with other projects in the space

(22:28) Donate and Follow Us

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First published:

November 18th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/GAFwc5jGFjqSetJiu/sentinel-early-detection-and-response-for-global

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It's been just over two years since we launched ARMoR through the CE/AIM incubation program. Last year for marginal funding week, we wrote this post to

• explain the importance of antimicrobial resistance and the need for policies that incentivise the development of novel antibiotics;
• share some of the progress we made and lessons learned; and
• make the case that our work was worth supporting. 

This year, we will provide a short update to that post. In particular, we'll outline some important strategic shifts, our recent progress, and lessons learned. We’ll also summarize our current funding situation and explain what different levels of marginal funding would enable us to do.

What we do; a short recap

If you are unfamiliar with what we do, I would recommend reading our post from last year's marginal funding week, but here is a quick refresher:

• Antimicrobial resistance is a serious global health threat.
• We need a continuous pipeline of new antimicrobials coming to market to replace those which are no longer effective.
• Market incentives have failed to stimulate the needed innovation.
• Significant analysis has suggested that ‘pull incentives’ could be a highly effective mechanism for reinvigorating antimicrobial R&D.
• ARMoR works [...]

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Outline:

(00:58) What we do; a short recap

(02:08) Strategic objectives

(06:10) Our progress

(08:26) The impact of marginal funds

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First published:

November 17th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/srjXGXhsecmZvpEdq/two-years-of-doing-advocacy-on-antimicrobial-resistance

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Background on HSFL

The Humane and Sustainable Food Lab (HSFL) is a research lab at Stanford University dedicated to accelerating the end of factory farming. We are interdisciplinary behavior scientists, e.g., we evaluate how adding plant-based options to menus, changes to choice architecture, or documentaries affect dietary choices and attitudes towards factory-farmed products. We also do more meta-level work, such as meta-analyses and re-analyses of existing research, as well as evaluations of existing campaigns by nonprofit partners like New Roots Institute, Food for Climate League, and Greener by Default.

See here for our lab's philosophy and here for our 2024 year in review.

Our current funding situation

We are lucky to have ongoing support from multiple university and private sources, including Open Philanthropy. We also ordinarily have research funded by the National Institutes of Health. However, this year, as you might imagine, that has been a little more complicated than usual. The government shutdown also delayed a funding decision we’ve been expecting.

In light of this uncertainty, we’ve scaled back a few projects, cut staff time, and delayed other projects that we’re excited about.

Projects we’d devote marginal funding to

1. A ‘True Cost of Food’ [...]

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Outline:

(00:13) Background on HSFL

(01:00) Our current funding situation

(01:34) Projects we'd devote marginal funding to

(02:34) Questions or comments?

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First published:

November 17th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/KEwrwFWFzfWeHHaav/the-humane-and-sustainable-food-lab-would-spend-marginal

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.