Author Archives: carolinefiennes

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Please ignore this page: it’s here for a technical reason involving Google! https://giving-evidence.com/google46fd937acf0a523a.html google46fd937acf0a523a.html

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Forget business: philanthropy needs to learn from tons of other disciplines

Philanthrocapitalism, social return, social investment, Absolute Return for Kids… Business is the analogy most commonly used for philanthropic activity. Though that’s not wrong, it’s dangerously narrow for solving what Warren Buffett calls ‘problems which have already resisted great intellects and great … Continue reading

Posted in Effective giving, Impact & evaluation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Kate Middleton’s charities: a curious but quite good set for a beginner

The Duchess Formerly Known as Kate Middleton announced today her first four charity affiliations. It’s a quirky set. If she’s clever, Kate (if we’re still allowed to call her that) can add a load more value to them. The overriding precept of … Continue reading

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Giving a goat (or similar) this Christmas? Get an extra half a goat for free

Oxfam Unwrapped is a kind of gift catalogue from which you can ‘buy a goat’ or various other items as a gift. A goat costs £25: you give Oxfam £25, which it uses to provide a goat to somebody in a … Continue reading

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How should advice on charitable giving be priced?

Answer: In a way that aligns the advisor’s incentives with those of the beneficiary. But which way does that? Along with many others, I’m often asked to advise donors about finding good charities to support and/or strategies to make their … Continue reading

Posted in Admin costs, Analysing giving, Donor behaviour & giving stats, Promoting giving | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

How do you know if your charity is making any difference? Take control

Charities need to understand which parts of their activities are working and which aren’t. But to really understand the charity’s impact, we need to know not only what did happen, but what would have happened without the charity’s work. Imagine a city with … Continue reading

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Who’s the most generous nation on Earth?

It’s not the US! According to The Economist, the rankings contain a few surprises: Australia               57%   New Zealand        57% Canada                  56% … Continue reading

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NatWest’s Community Force programme is crushingly awful

NatWest’s Community Force programme creates huge amounts of waste for charities and doesn’t even reward merit. It’s the worst programme for giving money to charity I’ve ever seen. Here are the larger of my concerns about it: It’s massively wasteful  NatWest has … Continue reading

Posted in Corporate philanthropy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

The good, and the weird, features of Peter Singer’s The Life You Can Save

‘How much should each of us give to help the world’s poor?’, asks the moral philosopher Peter Singer in his book The Life You Can Save. It’s a cracking book, with some great insights about poverty, effective solutions and the weirdness inside … Continue reading

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Comparing giving in the US and in the UK is a total red herring

If I had a pound for every time I’d heard people try to compare giving in the US and in the UK, I’d have more pounds than is given in both together. It’s a rubbish comparison. Here’s why. First, they normally … Continue reading

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