Dear friends,
What a year 2020 has been. The COVID-19 pandemic is already the most severe global catastrophe in decades, and it’s far from over. It shows the importance of addressing global catastrophic risk: a global catastrophe can upend everything else we’re doing and destroy so much of what we care about.
GCRI has been relatively fortunate during the pandemic. We have always been a remote collaboration organization, so we have been able to maintain a high degree of social distancing with relatively little impact on our workflow. We also started the year with full funding for the year, so there was no risk of us losing our jobs when the economy shifted. Despite these advantages, the pandemic has still been a significant setback to us. Our hearts go out to all those who have been affected more severely.
In a new blog post, we review GCRI’s 2020 accomplishments, our plans for 2021, and the fundraising that would help us achieve these plans. Please consider GCRI in your donations.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a wide range of needs for charitable giving. GCRI is not set up to assist those who are in the most need, or to develop the medical responses to the coronavirus. What we are set up to do is address the risk of future global catastrophes, including catastrophes that could be far worse than COVID-19. The pandemic has created a window of opportunity, a rare moment in which the world recognizes the importance of global catastrophic risk. Your donations will help GCRI leverage this moment to keep the world safe from global catastrophe.
Sincerely,
Seth Baum
Executive Director
Asteroid Risk
GCRI Executive Director Seth Baum gave an online talk titled “Asteroids as a Case Study in Global Catastrophic Risk” to the Duke Center on Risk in Science and Society, followed by a panel discussion with Elisabeth Paté-Cornell moderated by Jonathan Wiener on November 6.
Giving Tuesday
GCRI’s friends at EA Giving Tuesday have created a donation page for us that can be used by anyone interested in participating Facebook’s Giving Tuesday fundraising event on Tuesday, December 1. As part of the event, Facebook has pledged to donate $7 million in matching funds. Because Facebook matching funds are likely to run out extremely quickly, EA Giving Tuesday has prepared instructions for donors who would like to have their donations matched by Facebook. GCRI supporters who prefer not to participate in the Facebook event can always donate directly to us through our regular donation page.
