Uncertain times with high risks
We live in a time of great uncertainty. Humanity faces ever-increasing risks that threaten our future, including wars between major powers and even nuclear wars, natural and man-made pandemics, threats from advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and risks from new military technologies. These global catastrophic risks have the potential to kill billions of people and jeopardize the future of humanity.
For the safety of humankind
Together, we can all - scientists, political decision-makers, the public, etc. - address and mitigate these risks. There are also some historical examples of this. During the Cold War, world leaders worked together to reduce stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. At the turn of the millennium, scientists undertook an unprecedented effort to reduce the threat of large asteroid and comet impacts through better asteroid calculations and tracking. A growing global movement is now seeking to increase readiness for further measures to make future pandemics less likely in the wake of COVID-19.
Giving Fund: Safeguarding the Future
Our Giving Fund: Safeguarding the Future aims to support particularly promising measures to reduce the greatest known risks to humanity. The fund is intended to address threats to the long-term future of humanity as well as promote measures that contribute to the protection of all people living today.
We decide on the allocation of funds from our donation fund every six months together with the charitable philanthropy consultancy Longview Philanthropy and orient ourselves to their Emerging Challenges Fund. This focuses on high-impact and neglected initiatives to reduce the likelihood of global disasters and mitigate their impact. These include conflicts between major powers, nuclear wars, pandemics, man-made biological weapons, catastrophic laboratory accidents and emerging risks from new military and civilian technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI). In the past, as part of this Giving Fund, we have also worked with the Global Catastrophic Risks Fund of the institute Founders Pledge.
Our Giving Fund addresses a complex challenge in an ever-changing threat landscape. If you believe that reducing existential risks is particularly important for the long-term survival and growth of as many generations of people as possible, the Fund offers a highly effective approach. Or perhaps you are interested in the Fund for the simple reason that you want to help prevent the death and suffering of billions of people alive today.
Giving Fund: Ensuring Safe AI
The Giving Fund: Ensuring Safe AI is aimed at donors who wish to focus fully on the risks posed by advanced artificial intelligence (AI) in the field “Safeguarding the Future”.
AI holds great potential, but can also pose a threat to humanity. The capabilities of advanced AI have grown rapidly in recent years. An AI that has overtaken humans intellectually could be able to exert considerable influence on its environment and slip out of human control.[1] There is also a risk that such influential technology could fall into the wrong hands. With the help of AI, terrorists could try to develop pandemic viruses[2] or foreign adversaries carry out cyber attacks on an unprecedented scale[3]. As hundreds of researchers, including Nobel Prize winners Geoffrey Hinton and Demis Hassabis, stated in May 2023: “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.”
Our Giving Fund, like the more general fund “Safeguarding the Future”, follows the recommendations of our partner Longview Philanthropy. In the past, we have supported organizations that contribute to safe AI through technical solutions as well as those that focus primarily on regulatory approaches. METR for example, builds tools that test large language models for dangerous behavior. CeSIA tries to sensitize French politics, business and science to the risks of AI.
Whom have we supported so far?
Allocation of funds from H2/2025
- Geneva Graduate Institute: €170,000 (from the Giving Fund "Safeguarding the Future")
- Bulletin of Atomic Scientists: €220,000 (from the Giving Fund "Safeguarding the Future")
- Safe AI Forum: €356,000 (from the Giving Funds "Safeguarding the Future" and "Ensuring Safe AI")
Click here for the detailed fund update.
The donations were forwarded to the organizations in May 2026.
Allocation of funds from H1/2025
- SaferAI: €170,227 (100% from "Ensuring Safe AI" and 50% from "Safeguarding the Future")
- RAND Meselsons Center: €102,527 (50% from "Safeguarding the Future")
Click here for the detailed fund update.
The donations were forwarded to the organizations in August 2025.
Allocation of funds from H2/2024
- Pandemic Action Network (€243,000 from the Giving Fund "Safeguarding the Future")
- General Purpose AI Policy Lab (€233,000 from the Giving Fund "Safeguarding the Future")
- The Future Society (€60,000 from the Giving Fund "Ensuring Safe AI" and €54,000 from the Giving Fund "Safeguarding the Future")
Click here for the detailed fund update.
The donations were forwarded to the organizations in March 2025.
Allocation of funds from H1/2024
- CeSIA — Educating the French public about how artificial intelligence can be developed safely and for the benefit of society (approx. € 195,000)
Click here for the detailed fund update.
The donations were forwarded to the organization in September 2024.
Allocation of funds from H2/2023
- Blueprint Biosecurity — Work plans - "blueprints" - for the prevention, mitigation and control of future pandemics (approx. 160,000 €)
- Pour Demain — Support for the biosecurity program (CHF 100,000)
- RAND - Support for the Technology and Security Policy Center (TASP) (approx. 160,000 €)
The donations were forwarded to the organizations in February, March and May 2024.
Allocation of funds from H1/2023
- Global Shield — Political measures to reduce global disaster risks ($50.000)
- METR (formerly ARC Evals) — Evaluation of state-of-the-art AI systems to identify and minimize risks (128.000 €)
Grants were made in August 2023.
Allocation of funds from Q4/2022
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) — The global risks arising from the war in Ukraine (115.000 €)
- Center for a New American Security (CNAS) — Workshop on the risks of autonomous weapons systems ($100.000)
Grants were made in February 2023.
Your personal advice
Those who donate want to make a difference. We are happy to help you achieve the greatest possible impact in line with your ideas and values. Simply make an appointment for your personal consultation.
Anne Schulze,
Founder & Managing Director
Blog articles
Frequently asked questions
How much should I donate?
How much you donate is, of course, entirely your own decision. You may find some inspiration in our articles “How much should I donate?” and “Why and how I donate”.
Can I deduct my donation from my taxes?
Yes, you can deduct your donation from your taxes in Germany and Switzerland, even if the organizations we recommend are based abroad. We automatically email you one donation receipt for all your donations at the end of February of the following year. You don’t need to do anything. Once it has been issued, you will also find it as a PDF in your donor account.
I don’t want to donate online. Can I pay by bank transfer instead?
Of course, you’re welcome to donate by bank transfer. In our donation form, choose “Bank transfer” as the payment method, enter the details we need for your donation receipt, and register your donation. You’ll then receive an email with our bank details and a payment reference, which lets us match your transfer to your donation once it arrives.
What fees apply? Do you pass on 100% of my donation?
We process donations free of charge, so we keep nothing of your donation for ourselves. However, the payment providers we work with charge fees, for example for credit card or PayPal payments. They depend on the payment method you choose and are as follows for Germany:
- Bank transfer: free within the SEPA area
- SEPA direct debit: €0.35
- Credit card: 1.2% + €0.25 (for European cards)
- PayPal: 1.5% + €0.35
For amounts up to €10,000, we therefore recommend SEPA direct debit, which is particularly easy for us to process. For security reasons, amounts of €10,000 or more can currently only be donated by bank transfer.
You would pay similar fees if you donated to the organizations directly. We have negotiated with all payment providers and get particularly favorable terms for non-profits.
We fund our own work through donations too, completely separately. You can read more about this on our transparency page.
How can I change, pause or cancel my recurring donation?
Log in to your donor account. There you can change the amount or how it is split, pause your recurring donation or cancel it at any time, without giving a reason.
Do you donate by standing order? Then the payment runs through your bank, so you can only change the amount, pause or cancel there, by adjusting, suspending or deleting the standing order. Please still let us know in your donor account if you change the amount or cancel. Otherwise you will receive an automated payment reminder, which you can simply ignore.
Prefer email or phone? We’re still here for you: info@effektiv-spenden.org (🇩🇪 +49 30 260 355 19, 🇨🇠+41 44 244 27 38, 🇦🇹 +43 1 266 01 38).
How do you cover your costs?
Effektiv Spenden is made possible by private funders, whose support covers all of our administrative costs. This allows us to pass on your donation to our top organizations in full. Of course, we also welcome donations to us as a platform. You can find out more about how we are funded on our transparency page.
Sources
[1] ↑ Yoshua Bengio et al. Managing extreme AI risks amid rapid progress. Science, Vol. 384, Issue 6684. May 2024.
[2] ↑ Emily H. Soice et al, Can large language models democratize access to dual-use biotechnology?. June 2023.
[3] ↑ OpenAI itself has reported that its models have been used for cyberattacks by actors associated with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. Although the potential threat is currently still manageable, this could change with future models. OpenAI, Disrupting malicious uses of AI by state-affiliated threat actors. February 14, 2024.