As part of our research into United States causes, we’ve been looking at Invest in Kids, an organization focused on implementing evidence-based programs in Colorado, and we recently had the chance to speak with Lisa Merlino, Invest in Kids’ Executive Director (edited transcript of our conversation (DOC)). While our research is still in progress, we… Read More

The Money for Good study’s headline finding is that “few donors do research before they give, and those that do look to the nonprofit itself to provide simple information about efficiency and effectiveness.” That conclusion syncs up with our own experience talking to donors, but we aren’t discouraged by the results. That’s because where the… Read More

The Chronicle of Philanthropy and NPR note that charities don’t seem to have spent large percentages of the funds raised for Haiti to date. Here we (a) lay out the numbers, using the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s helpful public survey data; (b) discuss what it means for donors that most of the money raised seems to… Read More

We are members of the Alliance for Effective Social Investing, and the Alliance is currently determining whether/how to accept new members. We are passing along the following message on the Alliance’s behalf. If you’re potentially interested in membership, please read the message below. The Alliance for Effective Social Investment is collecting feedback from current members… Read More

We are in favor of scaling up proven programs, but against the Promise Neighborhoods initiative. As far as we know, the only evidence that the Harlem Children’s Zone (or any similar approach) has been effective is the relatively recent study showing impressive effects on test scores at its charter schools. We discussed this study in… Read More