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 donation fund, we have also worked with the Global Catastrophic Risks Fund of the institute Founders Pledge. as part of this Giving Fund.
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 want to donate is of course ultimately your own personal decision, but perhaps you will find some inspiration in the articles "How much should I donate?" and "Why and how I donate".
Can I deduct my donation from my taxes?
Yes, your donation is tax-deductible in Germany and Switzerland, even if the recommended organizations are based abroad. We will automatically send you a donation receipt for all your donations by e-mail at the end of February of the following year. You don't have to do anything else.
I don't want to donate online, can I also transfer the money?
You are also welcome to make a traditional bank transfer. Please use our donation form under "Payment method", select the "Bank transfer" tab, enter your details, which we need for the donation receipt, and register your donation. You will then receive an e-mail with our donation account and a reference that will enable us to allocate your donation correctly as soon as you have transferred the donation.
What are the fees? Will you forward 100% of my donation?
We process donations free of charge, i.e. we do not keep any of your donation for ourselves. However, credit card or PayPal fees are charged by the payment providers we work with. These depend on the selected payment method and are calculated as follows for Germany:
- Bank transfer: Free of charge within the SEPA payment area
- SEPA-direct debit: 0,35 €
- Credit card: 1.2% + 0.25 € (for European cards)
- PayPal: 1,5% + 0,35 €
Therefore we recommend the "SEPA-direct debit payment" for donations of up to €10,000. For security reasons, the only option currently available for amounts of €10,000 or more is "Bank transfer"
Comparable fees would also be incurred for a direct donation to the respective organizations. We have already negotiated with all payment providers and obtained particularly favorable conditions for non-profit organizations.
We also finance ourselves through donations, but completely independently.
You can find out more here.
How can I change or cancel my recurring donation?
If you want to increase or decrease the amount of your donation, simply contact us by e-mail at info@effektiv-spenden.org . We are also happy to change the organizations/ projects/funds to which you donate if you wish. Unfortunately, we cannot change payment methods of already existing donations. To do this, you will need to cancel your donation and then set it up again.
You can cancel your recurring donation at any time and without giving reasons. Simply send us an informal e-mail to info@effektiv-spenden.org or call us at +49 (0)30 / 260 355 19.
How do you cover your costs?
Effektiv Spenden is made possible by private sponsors. This support enables us to cover all administrative costs. This allows us to pass on your donation in full to our top organizations. Of course, we are also happy about your donation to us as a platform. You can find out more about our funding here.
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.