Comments on: Trust in Philanthropy http://tacticalphilanthropy.com/2009/11/trust-in-philanthropy Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:39:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Sean Stannard-Stockton http://tacticalphilanthropy.com/2009/11/trust-in-philanthropy/comment-page-1#comment-8289 Sean Stannard-Stockton Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:41:18 +0000 http://tacticalphilanthropy.com/2009/11/trust-in-philanthropy#comment-8289 That's a good point Paul. We can't prove that resources are not flowing to those who can best utilize them since we have so little ability to measure who can best utilize resources (ie. who the most effective nonprofits are). While I can't prove my statement, I do believe it is true. I see little evidence donors take effectiveness into account or that nonprofits use the fact they are effective in order to raise funds. That’s a good point Paul. We can’t prove that resources are not flowing to those who can best utilize them since we have so little ability to measure who can best utilize resources (ie. who the most effective nonprofits are).

While I can’t prove my statement, I do believe it is true. I see little evidence donors take effectiveness into account or that nonprofits use the fact they are effective in order to raise funds.

]]> By: Paul Botts http://tacticalphilanthropy.com/2009/11/trust-in-philanthropy/comment-page-1#comment-8287 Paul Botts Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:54:58 +0000 http://tacticalphilanthropy.com/2009/11/trust-in-philanthropy#comment-8287 The conventional wisdom that philanthropic "resources do not flow to those who can best utilize them" remains, so far as I can see, unsupported by any meaningful evidence. Since the civic sector does not in any serious way measure its own effectiveness -- mission results achieved per amount of resources spent -- how can we know whether resources are or are not flowing to those who best utilize them? We can presume it from our own experiences (in my case 15 years as a grantseeker and 4 as a grantmaker); we can form such a conclusion from others' anecdotes; we can base it on the wishes of those working in the field...all of those types of information are relevant in various ways but none of them actually support or debunk such a broad claim. More systematically we can actually now know whether resources are flowing to those who are most "efficient" in various ways (e.g. the Charity Navigator ratings), but of course that's not at all the same thing as actual effectiveness. As "best utilize them." None of which represents an argument that philanthropy is provably not dysfunctional in this way; we simply do not in a truly meaningful sense know one way or the other. Call that reality ridiculous, disappointing or shocking and you'll get no argument from this not-for-profit lifer; but it is the reality of our sector. The conventional wisdom that philanthropic “resources do not flow to those who can best utilize them” remains, so far as I can see, unsupported by any meaningful evidence. Since the civic sector does not in any serious way measure its own effectiveness — mission results achieved per amount of resources spent — how can we know whether resources are or are not flowing to those who best utilize them? We can presume it from our own experiences (in my case 15 years as a grantseeker and 4 as a grantmaker); we can form such a conclusion from others’ anecdotes; we can base it on the wishes of those working in the field…all of those types of information are relevant in various ways but none of them actually support or debunk such a broad claim. More systematically we can actually now know whether resources are flowing to those who are most “efficient” in various ways (e.g. the Charity Navigator ratings), but of course that’s not at all the same thing as actual effectiveness. As “best utilize them.”

None of which represents an argument that philanthropy is provably not dysfunctional in this way; we simply do not in a truly meaningful sense know one way or the other. Call that reality ridiculous, disappointing or shocking and you’ll get no argument from this not-for-profit lifer; but it is the reality of our sector.

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