Category Archives: Impact & evaluation

We tried to update our analysis of charities’ performance and their admin costs, and you won’t BELIEVE what happened next!

Posted on December 16, 2019 by carolinefiennes

Many people believe that charities waste money on ‘administration’, and hence that the best charities spend little on administration. A strong form of this view is that the best charities are by definition those which spend little on administration, i.e., you … Continue reading →

Posted in Admin costs, Effective giving, Impact & evaluation, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Why I’ve joined a board of the Flemish Red Cross

Posted on November 26, 2019 by carolinefiennes

I know. You’ve never heard of the Flemish Red Cross. You realise that such a thing probably must exist but you’d never hitherto realised it, right? Well, you should know about it because it’s amazing. Of all the operational charities … Continue reading →

Posted in Great charities, Impact & evaluation | 1 Comment

Evidence-based philanthropy made easy

Posted on January 7, 2019 by carolinefiennes

This talk explains what evidence-based giving is, why it matters, and how it needn’t be soooo complicated. Even the first 30 seconds here show why minimising administrative costs to keep an aid programme ‘cheap’ is a bad idea. This talk … Continue reading →

Posted in Donor behaviour & giving stats, Effective giving, Impact & evaluation | Leave a comment

Breaking the hunger cycle for the price of a bus ticket

Posted on March 7, 2017 by carolinefiennes

Modern philanthropists adopt an evidence-based approach This article first published in the Financial Times in March 2017. The Christian tradition of giving things up for Lent comes, it is said, from making a virtue out of necessity. Last year’s harvest, … Continue reading →

Posted in Effective giving, Great charities, Impact & evaluation | 1 Comment

How impact measurement can be more useful

Posted on November 15, 2016 by carolinefiennes

This article first published in Civil Society Magazine.  Most of the impact data charities gather does not help raise funds or improve performance This opinion piece is a response to an article titled How do you measure the value of … Continue reading →

Posted in Effective giving, Impact & evaluation | Leave a comment

When charitable donations cost more than they give

Posted on November 8, 2016 by carolinefiennes

Popularity contests for funding waste time and resources This article first published in the Financial Times in November 2016.  Some charitable donors are a net drain: they cost organisations they seek to help more than they contribute. Others come pretty … Continue reading →

Posted in Effective giving, Impact & evaluation | 1 Comment

Creating a sector-wide research agenda: Industrial Farm Animal Production

Posted on November 2, 2016 by carolinefiennes

‘Ask an important question an answer it reliably’ is a central tenet of medical research. Yet  much ‘impact research’ in the charity and social sectors (including monitoring and evaluation’) isn’t like that. Instead, we ask lots of questions, and answer … Continue reading →

Posted in Impact & evaluation | 1 Comment

What is evidence-based giving and why does it matter?

Posted on October 9, 2016 by carolinefiennes

Interview with Caroline Fiennes, Director of Giving Evidence (16 mins):   This interview was made possible by the Skoll Foundation. It was recorded in Oxford in April 2015, in a single take and with no notice of the questions. More … Continue reading →

Posted in Impact & evaluation, Promoting giving | Leave a comment

What would have happened otherwise?

Posted on August 26, 2016 by carolinefiennes

First published in the Financial Times in August 2016. Did the charity make it happen, or would it have happened anyway? The purpose of a charity’s work — and your support for it — is to create a benefit beyond what … Continue reading →

Posted in Impact & evaluation | Leave a comment

How to give it: Why charity should begin in the science lab

Posted on April 3, 2016 by carolinefiennes

This article first published in the Financial Times in April 2016 Not all charities are good causes. This may sound surprising, because we’re used to thinking of them all as being somehow virtuous, but they vary in their effectiveness. Smart donors … Continue reading →

Posted in Donor behaviour & giving stats, Effective giving, Impact & evaluation | 3 Comments