Strategic Philanthropy

Many charities (or non-governmental organisations) are often seen as less efficient than businesses which instigates the "New Philanthropist" wanting to transfer their skills to the charity sector. Meanwhile, many philanthropists are somewhat risk adverse which means that they look for new ways of measuring results and social-return-on-investments (SROI). Rightly so perhaps - it is their investment after all. The trick is - how do we measure the success and impact of our giving?

It is certainly not straight forward. Business skills definitely need to be translated into the charity environment. Also, there is a quest for quick measurable results from a sector that might not be able, prepared or indeed interested in producing these measurements. Moreover, there are charity advisers and websites that disagree on whether to measure accountability and transparency, impact only, or SROI, etc. - further confusing the issue.

Based on my varied experience of being a philanthropist, business management consultant, charity trustee and director, and working with numerous international development assignments, my answer to how we measure the success and impact of our giving - must be - that there isn't one ... There is no one size fit all solution, method or "right" answer....

Yet - it is indeed possible to measure the impact and success of our given. Firstly it is important that the Philanthropist is strategic about their giving. Then the real quest is to find a tailored solution that fits both the requirements of the philanthropist and one that the recipient feels both happy about and is able to meet. That's a formula that will work.

http://www.not-just-for-profit.com/