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Recent Posts
- Surprising churn in the top UK foundations
- Why the system for charities applying to foundations is so expensive, and what can be done about it
- Getting evidence to influence public policy
- The curious relationship between the number of staff and number of trustees in foundations
- Having Too Few Personnel Compromises Foundations’ Performance on Key Issues
- One donor’s fantastic work to encourage use of evidence, and production of more, to fight factory farming
- Reducing the Administrative Burden Placed on UK Charities by UK Donors and Funders
- Letter in The Economist about anti-malarial bednets
- Rating UK foundations on their transparency, accountability and diversity
- Why most ratings of charities are useless: the available information isn’t important and the important information isn’t available
- Webinar: intro to evidence, and the evidence about child abuse
- Many (many!) charities are too small to measure their own impact
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Tag Archives: charity
Are we relying on unreliable research?
“Ask an important question and answer it reliably” is a fundamental tenet of clinical research. And you’d hope so: you’d hope that medics don’t waste time on questions that don’t matter or which have been answered already, and you’d hope … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged charity, corporate philanthropy, effectiveness, evaluation, impact, impact assessment, monitoring, philanthropy, research quality
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Assessing impact needs a reliable comparison group
This letter discusses an article in Stanford Social Innovation Review and was first published there. “Dressed to Thrive” [in Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter, 2013] describes the work of Fitted For Work (FFW) in helping women into work. By way … Continue reading
Why ‘What’s Our Impact?’ is the Wrong Question
This article was first published by the Skoll World Forum and the Society of Impact Assessment Analysts Since there are so many ways that charities and funders can use their finite resources, they must make choices: choices between competing goals (reduce … Continue reading
Posted in Effective giving, Impact & evaluation
Tagged charity, comparison, effective, effective giving, effectiveness, impact, impact assessment, philanthropy
4 Comments
Why I’m delighted to join the advisory panel of Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator is the world’s largest charity ‘ratings agency’, providing online ratings of 6,000 US-based charities which are used by over 3million donors each year. It’s also the sole organisation slagged off in my book about how donors can best … Continue reading
Posted in Admin costs, Great charities, Impact & evaluation
Tagged analysis, beneficiary, charity, Charity Navigator, effectiveness, feedback, impact, impact assessment
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Development Controversies Are A Sign of Sophistication
This article, written with Professor Dean Karlan of Yale University, appeared in Stanford Social Innovation Review. Public debate about two prominent poverty-alleviation programs shows that over the past 15 years international development has become much more scientific. The international development … Continue reading
Posted in Impact & evaluation
Tagged aid, charity, cochrane, development, deworming, effectiveness, giving, impact, impact assessment, international development, philanthropy, science, worms
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Has the worm turned on deworming?
The world-renowned Cochrane Collaboration has recently published a systematic review of the evidence about mass programmes to treat children in less developed countries for intestinal worms. It found that “deworming children seems like a good idea, but the evidence for … Continue reading
Faster, higher, stronger: Olympic lessons for philanthropy
This article first appeared in Alliance Magazine. Coming from ancient Greece, even the word ‘philanthropy’ hints at similarities with the Olympic Games. And there is much which philanthropists, donors, charities and those of us who support and guide them can … Continue reading
How foundations discourage charity mergers
This article first appeared in Third Sector magazine. Esmee Fairbairn Foundation (a large UK grant-making foundation) has launched a fund to encourage mergers. It’s ironic, because Esmee’s own rules penalise them Fairness, presumably, is behind the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation’s rule that it … Continue reading
MoneyBox Live: good questions to ask
I’m on BBC Radio 4’s MoneyBox Live today, answering questions from the public about charitable giving. Do call! (Here’s how.) I’ve suggested some questions you might like to ask – about which charities to back and how – and some … Continue reading
Posted in Effective giving, Uncategorized
Tagged advice, charitable giving, charity, choosing a charity, donors, how to give, Money Box, philanthropy, phone in, Radio, Radio 4, which charities are good
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The giving tax: what do we actually know?
In the current row about charities and tax, it’s worth being clear about what is known and what isn’t. Here’s the relevant evidence we’ve encountered. Income Total income of UK charities £37bn Source:NCVO Almanac Income of UK charities from individuals … Continue reading
Posted in Tax and governance, Uncategorized
Tagged charity, donation, donor, evidence, giveitbackgeorge, giving, impact, philanthropist, philanthropy, tax, tax relief
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