Last updated: 4th October, 2023
Groups will always be time and funding-constrained, so prioritising between activities is critical. A group’s prioritisation strategy depends on several factors: the group’s stage of development; its members’ demographic, needs and preferences; and its organisers’ skill sets.
To begin prioritising, determine your group’s stage of development. We identify three stages below, organised by group size. All priorities from earlier stages apply to later stages.
We recommend that group organisers tailor our general approach to fit your specific circumstances. It is useful to create a document which lists group priorities. You should revisit the list at fixed intervals, such as every six months, or at the end of every semester. These documents can help you to stay on-track, evaluate progress, and adjust your goals.
1. Small/new
Description: small groups generally have 1-2 group organisers and <10 regular group members.
Objectives: We think that one of the main priorities for small / new groups is to develop a core group of members that care deeply about learning about EA.
Recommended priorities:
- For new university groups, apply to join CEA's University Group Accelerator Program (UGAP).
- Connect with the Centre for Effective Altruism and other organisers via Slack for support.
- Find co-organisers
- Run an introductory talk.
- Run an Intro EA Program/Fellowship. If your group doesn't have the capacity to run one yet, encourage group members (and group organisers if they haven't yet) to join an Intro Program of EA Virtual Programs.
- Run social events! We recommend those on this page.
- If the current organisers are considering leaving, find successors and create a preliminary handover process.
- Make sure to schedule 1-1s. New and current members of EA groups see immense value in these meetings.
- Encourage people to attend EAG’s and EAGx’s.
2. Medium-sized
Description: Medium groups generally have 3-5 group organisers and 10-20 regular group members. Often, they have completed a Intro Program/Fellowship and had group members wanting to engage further. Without fail-safes and proper infrastructure, many medium-sized groups may contract.
Objectives: We want to ensure that medium groups do not regress from where that are, but that they are also developing their current members to help them increase their potential for impact.
Recommended priorities:
- Complete all small-group tasks listed above. We recommend continuing to run EA Intro-Programs if you are able to; they are a great way to continue getting new members into the group.
- Consider having one or more of your organisers apply for part-time or full-time funding to run your group. See further information on this here.
- Ensure you have a robust plan for developing members post-intro fellowship. See Post-Intro Fellowship Guide: to Running and Planning for our thoughts on this.
- Connect group members to the broader EA community.
- Encourage them to apply for EA Global / EAGx events
- Encourage them to apply for EA internships and fellowships.
- Establish infrastructure to maintain the group’s level of activity. Developing formalised group roles may help.
- Have a robust handover process in case current organisers may leave
- Set up a website so people can find you more easily
3. Large
Description: Large groups have >5 organisers who invest substantial time into the group, possibly including paid part- or full-time organisers. They're generally at least a few years old with an active membership of 50+ members, large enough to support sub-communities with different interest areas or demographics. Dissolution of large groups is improbable.
Objectives: Help move highly engaged into positions where they can develop their career plans and cause prioritisation. Create sub-groups based on cause areas.
Recommended priorities:
- Complete the small and medium-group tasks listed above
- Consider incubating or spinning off cause-specific groups
- See post-intro fellowship page for further ideas and information on this.
- Organise showpiece events with high-profile speakers
- Build excellent brand-presence via your website and perhaps social media
- Continue operations and ensure a robust handover process is in place.