Efforts to measure the impact of philanthropic dollars, and the success of charities, have been popping up more frequently of late. Lucy Bernholz, writing at Philanthropy 2173, has compiled a list of groups that are trying to spread information about the value of donations and the effectiveness of charities.
The problem for philanthropy, she says, is not that there is a dearth of people interested in assessing nonprofit effectiveness. It’s that there is a shortage of comprehensive ways to do so.
Among the efforts on Ms. Bernholz’s list:
-New Philanthropy Capital
-GiveWell
-GuideStar
-Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
-Social Solutions
-Urban Institute Outcome Indicators
-Nonprofit Reporter
-University of Pennsylvania’s Center on High Impact Philanthropy
-Charity Navigator
-HIP Investor
-Issue Lab
The full list is available on her blog. She welcomes readers to add the names of organizations she has forgotten. You can also add your suggestions on this site by clicking the comment box below.
You may also read a detailed article from The Chronicle about a new effort by a technology entrepreneur to measure the impact of philanthropic dollars.
One Response to Who Is Measuring Nonprofit Effectiveness?
ngantcheva - January 25, 2011 at 10:35 am
McKinsey and the Foundation Center worked together to launch Tools and Resources for Assessing Social Impact (TRASI)in the fall of 2010 – a repository of over 150 tools, methods, and best practices for measuring outcomes and impact. Free and open to the public, TRASI can be found here: http://trasi.foundationcenter.org/