We’re excited to announce SparkWell!
What is SparkWell?
SparkWell is an Anti Entropy program designed to help high-impact nonprofit projects test ideas, develop operational capabilities, and launch as independent entities. We provide a temporary home for a diverse range of promising initiatives.
Why have we built this?
We believe that we’re living through a transformational period in history. Catastrophic risks loom large, whether from climate change, factory farming, pandemics, nuclear or cyber warfare, or the misalignment or misuse of intelligent systems.
A transformational period in history warrants a transformation in philanthropy — and we want to give innovative projects the support they need to test their ideas and scale. We leverage our skills and experience with nonprofit operations to guide enrolled projects through a bespoke acceleration roadmap.
Within 6–24 months, your project will graduate into an independent entity with operational best practices. This will put you in a position to scale your activities — and help mitigate the catastrophic risks facing us.
What does SparkWell offer?
SparkWell offers 6-month, 12-month, or 24-month tracks to accommodate projects at different stages. We enable each project to:
- Test ideas
- Receive tax-exempt funding via Anti Entropy's 501(c)(3)
- Run your project, including hiring staff, contractors, and managing expenses
- Receive feedback and develop your theory of change
- Develop operational capabilities
- Access your bank account, company card, and dashboard
- Receive mentorship and resources from your Project Liaison
- Leave bookkeeping and compliance to us
- Launch an independent entity
- Monitor your progress along entity formation milestones
- Be on track to independence within 6, 12, or 24 months
- Launch an independent entity when you’re ready
We apply a 7% service fee on funds raised or received during the program. You can learn more about the program here.
Who are we?
The SparkWell team includes:
- Jeffrey Poche: Responsible for the oversight of the program and for Anti Entropy as a whole. Prior to SparkWell, Jeffrey served as Operations Manager at the Centre for Long-Term Resilience, and before that Chief Operating Officer of Fountain Forward.
- Andrew Leeke: Manages day-to-day operations. Prior to SparkWell, Andrew co-founded Impact Ops, where he provided consultancy and hands-on support to help high-impact organizations upgrade their operations.
- Joshua Axford: Advises the team and a selection of its active projects. Prior to SparkWell, Joshua co-founded Impact Ops (where he remains CEO) and has directed operations teams at Effective Ventures, CEA, and the Marine Megafauna Foundation.
Who’s enrolled in the program already?
Currently enrolled projects include:
- Bedrock Philanthropy (6-month track). Providing bespoke management of philanthropic assets for high net-worth donors.
- NYC Impact Hub (12-month track). Establishing a co-working space to support a community tackling pressing problems.
- AI Safety Brazil (24-month track). Increasing Brazilian state and civil society capacity regarding AI safety and governance.
- Open Memetics Institute (24-month track). Delivering public tools to map how ideas spread, starting with psyop detection.
- Respira Health (24-month track). Delivering rehabilitation to patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
- Scale Welfare (24-month track). Identifying cost-effective, scalable solutions to improve farmed fish welfare in Asia.
Who funded this?
SparkWell’s funding comes from two sources:
- Fees from sponsored project (7% of the funds raised or received during the program); and
- A grant from EA Funds to build out resources for the program.
How do I apply?
Applying is simple:
- Submit your project proposal via our application form.
- Applications are assessed based on impact potential, team capabilities, and program fit.
- Selected applicants are invited for in-depth discussions with our team.
- Final selections made by the SparkWell team with notification to all applicants.
If SparkWell sounds like the right fit for your high-impact project, we invite you to apply! You can also reach out to us at contactus@antientropy.org if you have any questions.
Thanks for reading!
Glad that this exists - I was worried about the lack of fiscal sponsors/ops-support orgs available in the EA ecosystem post-FTX crash.
Sorry if this is a dumb question but: why are two of the three people working on this project (Sparkwell) also working on a different but very similar project (ImpactOps)? (e.g. why would someone approach one org over another?). Thanks
Thanks Kaleem!
To add on to what Josh said: It’s currently myself (Andrew) and Jeffrey who are running SparkWell day-to-day. While I co-founded Impact Ops, I no longer work there.
Josh works at Impact Ops, and also advises SparkWell. However, he doesn’t work for SparkWell or on the program day-to-day.
As for the differences between the orgs:
Given Impact Ops’s experience with managing finances for nonprofits, SparkWell outsources accountancy and bookkeeping etc. to Impact Ops. Appreciate this can be a little confusing! But the headline is that these are separate organizations run by different people, offering different sets of services.
Hi Kaleem,
Impact Ops has been providing and will continue to provide operational support to Anti Entropy and Sparkwell, hence the involvement of Impact Ops team members both publicly and behind the scenes.
Via the SparkWell program, AntiEntropy is offering fiscal sponsorship to early stage organisations, this is not something Impact Ops provides.
To answer your second question more directly, a project would approach SparkWell if they are looking for mentoring and temporary fiscal sponsorship to test their idea before launching a new entity. Whereas a project would approach Impact Ops if they have already decided to launch a new entity and need support doing so, or if they already have an entity and require outsourced support from one of the 6 service areas that Impact Ops provides.
Impact Ops just posted a 2 year reflection piece on the lessons learned from the first 2 years of serving high impact non-profits which might help clarify the differentiation between Impact Ops and SparkWell- https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/NWTEuaMDiGhcJQvLZ/lessons-learned-from-two-years-supporting-high-impact
What are your thoughts on taking projects that want to be able to take both charitable and for-profit funding in the long term? (Whether to eg eventually have both a charity and a for-profit entity, or just wanting the flexibility to pick one path or the other after testing things out)
Hello Rebecca,
As a 501(c)(3) we cannot directly support for-profit entities, however we can support initiatives that demonstrate clear public benefit. Each situation would need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine eligibility.
For projects exploring dual-path funding models, we may be able to support specific components that align with our charitable purpose, even if we cannot support the entire venture.
Feel free to reach out to discuss your specific scenario—we're happy to explore whether there's a viable path forward for collaboration.
Happy to see this!
This sounds amazing!
Would you consider providing support for a startup that is already generating profits and aims to donate at least 10% of revenue to EA affiliated charities (along with innovative charitable initiatives) but could really use help with bookkeeping and scaling up faster?
Hello David,
Unfortunately, as a 501(c)(3), we can't provide direct support to for-profit entities.
However, if you'd like to connect, we'd be happy to help you explore alternatives that might work for your charitable giving goals - such as finding somewhere you could set up a donor-advised fund (DAF) or other structures that could streamline your donation process while supporting your growth.
Feel free to reach out if you'd like to discuss options that might be a better fit.