No longer just an interest, there is now a demand for accountability and a focus on tangible, measurable results that is taking root in the private philanthropic market place. Grantmakers for Education recently published their first ever benchmarking report on education philanthropy in the US. One of the key finding in the report indicates that private funders have adopted a much more focused approach and have become much clearer about the outcomes they aim to accomplish and the tangible results that they desire to see. ...

This morning the HBS Club of Chicago hosted Julia Stasch, VP of the MacArthur Foundation, for a speech on the topic of "Philanthropy 2009: Charity or Change?"  Stasch posed the question:  Are foundations better suited to fund direct service ("charity") or systemic policy ("change")? Stasch argued that despite MacArthur's $260M annual giving, the Foundation will never be able to solve the world's problems by responding to individual needs.  Rather, she suggested that broader impact would occur through systemic change "spilling over" into policy. ...

This past weekend, a local sports talk radio station discussed a recent charity event in which every single dollar raised went to support need children.  This proclamation is clearly a response to the growing trend for accountability from nonprofits. Surely, accountability is a good thing, a necessary thing.  Nobody wants to give money to a charity only have "their" dollar spent on things which don't help the cause. But what does accountability mean?  Often, accountability takes some form of cost per dollar raised.  In response, nonprofits are incentivized to drive down costs and advertise their efficiency.  But what does cost per dollar raised tell us about how much social change that dollar helped create?  Not much. ...

For many students, the tears shed on graduation day consist of equal parts sense of accomplishment and relief from escaping the onerous financial liability that accompanies attending a 4-year private university.  But for several students, the tuition paid for "the best 4 years of their lives" (or "the best 6 years" for some) only represents the beginning of a lifelong financial commitment to their alma mater.  Nationally, 12.8% of alumni donate to their alma maters and at Harvard, the rate peaked at nearly 50% earlier this decade.  ...

Foundations have a responsibility to the public. After all, public taxes subsidize foundations’ tax-exempt status. Thus, it is altogether appropriate that the public expect grantmakers to prove their effectiveness. The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy believes (and I second) that “regulation of grantmaking institutions is essential.” NCRP recently published its report titled "Criteria for Philanthropy at Its Best: Benchmarks to Assess and Enhance Grantmaker Impact." Their criteria fall into four categories – Values, Effectiveness, Ethics, and Commitment – and intend to help foundations measure whether they are ethical and maximizing their impact. Below are the criteria that I found particularly interesting: ...