[Career review] “Foundation grantmaker” by Roman Duda

Foundation grantmakers help foundations decide where to make donations. They influence large amounts of money ($10M/year at large foundations), though they are often highly constrained in where they can allocate grants. They can also influence the direction of non-profits, build expertise and connections in a cause and make use of generous donation matching schemes for their personal giving. If you’re able to get a position at a foundation working on a promising cause, especially at program-officer level, it’s a promising option. Narrated by AI. ---Outline:(00:09) Summary(00:44) Pros(01:20) Cons(01:41) Key facts on fit(01:54) Next steps(02:09) Recommended(02:19) Review status(02:24) Research process(02:52) What is this career path?(03:30) What are the major stages of this career?(04:32) Who controls where money is donated?(05:13) What is it like day to day?(05:18) Program associates(05:59) Program officers(06:32) Why should you become a foundations grantmaker?(06:37) Influence grant allocations(07:56) Influence the direction of existing nonprofits(08:22) Assist nonprofits so they run more effectively(09:06) Create new organisations, collaborations or projects(09:34) Influence other grantmakers(09:52) Decent salaries and donation matching for earning to give(10:53) Strong career capital in the cause you work on(12:35) Socially motivated culture(12:51) Good job satisfaction(13:45) Reasons not to become a foundations grantmaker(13:50) Narrow experience in a single cause may lead to inflexible career capital(14:22) Entry requirements(16:16) Who should consider this option?(17:20) Global Health(17:35) Global Catastrophic Risks(18:03) Meta-research(18:22) U.S. policy(18:51) Further reading The original text contained 18 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: July 30th, 2015 Source: https://80000hours.org/career-reviews/foundation-program-manager --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.