This has been discussed before, but it is still worth pointing out.
I suspect that the "social business" aspect of the SIAI is severely hurt by the organization's name. It gives off an instant nerdy vibe that turns people off in "5 seconds or less". "Artificial Intelligence" sounds like an academic pursuit from the bowels of MIT, and the "Singularity" idea is still pretty controversial. Given that SIAI competes for funding with the non-profits like UN's Global Issues, Liu Institute for Global Issues and many others, a better name might be in order. Consider for example the way the Lifeboat Foundation is named: it gets instant emotional response from most people, due to the obvious allegories.
A less-geeky name could be a cheap step toward a more mainstream support.
That's an excellent point. I wonder if it's too late at this point for a renaming, or not?
I asked this question for the Q&A:
I also recently asked this of Luke for his feedback post before the Q&A was up, and he mentioned in his response that SI is continuing to grow the Summit brand in a multifarious manner. Luke also asked me for additional social business ideas, citing a lack of staff working on the issue.
Less Wrong's collective intelligence trumps my own, so I'm fielding it to you. I do have a few ideas, but I'll hold off on proposing solutions at first. I find that this is a fascinating and difficult thought experiment in addition to its usefulness both for SI and as practice in recognizing opportunities.
Edited to add: I posted my own ideas concerning SI and social business in the comments. What are yours? Also, addressing some valid points made in the comments, what are some other innovative ways to fund SI?