Tag Archives: effectiveness

Lessons during the decade since the Asian tsunami

This article first appeared in Third Sector.  It’s 10 years this December since the Indian Ocean Boxing Day tsunami. We salute those who died, those who mourn, those who tended; and we celebrate those who’ve since sought to improve response … Continue reading

Posted in Impact & evaluation | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Philanthropy in transition

Caroline Fiennes was one of 11 leaders interviewed by The Guardian for the Philanthropy in Transition series.  A new generation of donors wants impact and engagement Out of the dot.com boom came a new breed of donors for whom good … Continue reading

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

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 , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

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

Posted in Impact & evaluation | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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 , , , , , , , | 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 , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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

Posted in Impact & evaluation, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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

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

What the gov’t should do about the charity tax row

Part 1: Try to regain some credibility in this debate 1. Make HMRC release the relevant donor data Whatever the rights & wrongs in the debate, sentiment is inflamed by the fact that the charity sector can’t even size the … Continue reading

Posted in Tax and governance, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment