California · Public charity
Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative
To improve human civilizations long-term prospects for survival and flourishing. Currently, our main strategy is collaborating with university research groups working to reduce existential risk, by providing them with free services and support.
- $2.5M
- Granted FY2024(still arriving)
- 5
- Itemized grants FY2024
- 2
- Organizations funded FY2023
- 50%
- First-time grantees FY2023
- Itemized, FY2024
- $2.1M
- The rest is grants the schedule does not break out
- Median grant, FY2024
- $250,000
- Largest grant, FY2024
- $1,521,400
- Organizations funded a year
- 1 to 6
- FY2018 to FY2023
- States reached, FY2024
- 2
- Total assets, FY2024
- $4.5M
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2023, 50% of the organizations Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative funded were first-time grantees, receiving 39% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2023, 61% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $26k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024still arriving | 4 | $1.8M | 100% |
| FY2023 | 2 | $66k | 50% |
| FY2022 | 2 | $91k | 0% |
| FY2021 | 1 | $531k | 0% |
| FY2020 | 4 | $732k | 75% |
| FY2019 | 4 | $426k | 75% |
| FY2018 | 6 | $2.2M | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2024.
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2018 to FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Center for Applied Rationality | $1,720,125 | 3 | 35% |
| Mats Research Inc | $1,521,400 | 1 | 24% |
| Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (See) Inc | $1,022,223 | 4 | 1% |
| University of California Berkeley Foundation | $400,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Machine Intelligence Research Institute Inc | $300,000 | 1 | 4% |
| Future of Life Institute | $300,000 | 1 | 11% |
| International Association for Safe and Ethical Artificial Intelligence Inc | $250,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Effective Ventures Foundation USA Inc | $56,316 | 2 | 0% |
| Theiss Research | $50,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Institute for Philosophical Research | $50,000 | 1 | 91% |
Show all 17 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Center for Applied Rationality | $1,720,125 | 3 | 35% |
| Mats Research Inc | $1,521,400 | 1 | 24% |
| Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (See) Inc | $1,022,223 | 4 | 1% |
| University of California Berkeley Foundation | $400,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Machine Intelligence Research Institute Inc | $300,000 | 1 | 4% |
| Future of Life Institute | $300,000 | 1 | 11% |
| International Association for Safe and Ethical Artificial Intelligence Inc | $250,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Effective Ventures Foundation USA Inc | $56,316 | 2 | 0% |
| Theiss Research | $50,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Institute for Philosophical Research | $50,000 | 1 | 91% |
| Convergence Analysis | $39,282 | 1 | 23% |
| Regents of the University of California at Berkeley | $26,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Association for the Advancement of Artificial Inte | $25,000 | 1 | 1% |
| Leverage Research Inc | $25,000 | 1 | 9% |
| Securebio Inc | $24,655 | 1 | 0% |
| Rethink Priorities | $16,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Quantified Uncertainty Research Inst | $7,498 | 1 | 3% |
Where it is load-bearing
Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 2 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 14 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
Co-funders
Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.
Open a dossier: Founders Pledge Inc · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Good Ventures Foundation · Rethink Charity · Beri Support Fund · Effective Ventures Foundation USA Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Network for Good · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund
How this is measured
Compare Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative with peer funders
About Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative
- How much does Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative give?
- Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative reported 5 itemized grants totaling $2,062,055, out of $2,541,655 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 1 and 6 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2023.
- What does Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2018 to FY2024, its largest causes are Science & Tech (30%), Philanthropy (29%), Health (19%).
- Who are Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2018 to FY2024: Center for Applied Rationality ($1.7M), Mats Research Inc ($1.5M), Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (See) Inc ($1.0M).
- Does Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative fund new organizations?
- In FY2023, 50% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Which funders back the same organizations as Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Founders Pledge Inc, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Good Ventures Foundation.
- Where is Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative based?
- Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative is based in CA.
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