EA - GWWC's new community strategy by Giving What We Can

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: GWWC's new community strategy, published by Giving What We Can on September 27, 2023 on The Effective Altruism Forum.I'm extremely excited to announce the launch of our new community strategy that aims to connect our existing community better, and inspire more people to join us - I've been working on this for the past few months and am thrilled to finally share it!Over the almost two years I've been working with Giving What We Can, I've seen how important our community is - whether it's a supportive network to ask questions, a friendly face in a new city, or a shared sense that none of us are alone in wanting to do what we can to make a better world, I've personally taken much-needed inspiration, motivation, and comfort more times than I can count, simply by hearing from you!I want to make it easier for you to do the same.We are launching some new spaces for you to meet, connect, and chat with each other. Everyone is welcome: whether you just subscribe to our newsletter, have taken the pledge, have donated through our platform, or are simply interested in meeting like-minded people who care about making a difference in the world:In brief, Giving What We Can's new community strategy includes:The launch of GWWC Local Groups in key cities like London, NYC, Berlin, and Sydney; we plan to launch in other cities as wellAn online community space for you to connect, no matter where you are locatedA directory of other (non-GWWC) effective giving groups, to better connect the effective giving community more broadlyI firmly believe that community and connection are an integral part of working towards a society where giving significantly and effectively is a cultural norm. We've heard from many of you that one of the best things about having found Giving What We Can is learning that there are other people with similar values. We hope this makes it a little easier to connect!TL;DR: How do I get involved?Join one of the GWWC Local groups below or apply to start one in your city!LondonNew YorkBerlinVancouverSydneyMelbourneYou can read more about each of our new initiatives below:1: GWWC Local GroupsSince its founding in 2009, Giving What We Can has been connecting people through their commitment to effective giving. Our mission isn't just to marginally increase the amount of money going to effective charities; we're aiming for meaningful cultural change - with a goal to make giving effectively and significantly a global norm, in service of a better world. The community we've built (and are continuing to build) is instrumental to reaching that goal.The way that GWWC has engaged with the community has changed a lot over the years. It all started as small local groups bound by a common thread of pledging 10% back in 2009 through "Giving What We Can Chapters".One of the biggest changes that occurred was GWWC Chapters transitioning to become EA Groups several years ago.Since then, we've worked with EA groups to promote effective giving, had volunteers host monthly virtual meetups, and run an ambassador program where our ambassadors ran events too!Some highlights:PISE (Positive Impact Society Erasmus) has hosted pledge celebration events.An ambassador John Yan has hosted Giving Tuesday after-parties in New York.Grace (Head of Marketing) ran a community event in Melbourne earlier this year.Since GWWC was revitalised in 2020, we have often received requests to restart local groups, given that some of its strongest growth historically came from our former Chapters. Many of our smaller initiatives (e.g. one-off events, working with EA groups, and running the ambassador program) have shown a desire for this too.We've also been excited to see successful communities around effective giving start to grow and adapt to local cultural contexts i.e. in London and in the ...