Splash

Contents 1 Splash: Getting More Funding to Effective Nonprofits 1.1 User Stories: 1.2 Constraints: 1.3 Extra Credit: 1.4 Similar Projects and Resources: 1.5 Next Steps and Sustainability: 1.6 Qualitative Impact: 1.7 Quantitative Impact:

[edit] Splash: Getting More Funding to Effective Nonprofits

Many donors give to nonprofits based on a marketing message or emotional appeal, while doing very little if any research on the nonprofit's effectiveness. This means that nonprofits waste a tremendous amount of resources chasing after funding, which decreases their ability to have an impact. It also means the nonprofit with the best marketing message may be getting more funding than another nonprofit that is actually accomplishing more.When a donor does try to do the research, there is a lot of noise in the philanthropic sector, with no clear market signals (like a stock market) to help the donor determine which nonprofits are actually having an impact on social problems. Potential solutions:

1. Aggregating the existing information on a variety of websites (Charity Navigator, GuideStar, etc) in a smart, accessible way (think Expedia so you don't have to visit 5 different airline websites).
2. Advanced search/aggregation/design to make it easy for an involved donor to do research on nonprofits, then share a summary of their data with less-knowledgeable friends and family through social media.
3. Creating a "ripple effect" tool that shows the impact of sharing information, i.e. you sent your research to 30 people, 20 looked at the research, 10 donated because of it, so you raised $500 for a nonprofit/cause. Take this to another level by showing 2nd and 3rd level of impact, i.e. you email your research to Jimmy, Jimmy donates and then forwards your email to Susie and Susie donates too (Susie is 2nd level).

Example: The outpouring of donations after a disaster. With the disaster in Japan, there was a lot of conflicting information about what nonprofits to donate to or whether to donate at all. Most US donors just gave to the American Red Cross, which may not be positioned to make the most effective use of donated dollars. This happens with every well-publicized disaster.

[edit] User Stories:

You are a fairly knowledgeable, involved donor. The disaster in Japan occurs and you see a lot of friends and family wondering what they can do to help. You go on the site and do an advanced search which provides you with some easy to read summary information. You quickly drill down on items that interest you or where you have questions, and pull the research you are finding into your personal "portfolio." With a few clicks you have shared this portfolio with your network on facebook and twitter and emailed it directly to a few friends. A week later you log back in and can see how many people donated based on your research and how much funding you raised.Because you took the time to do the research and disseminate the information from this smart platform, more funding went to nonprofits that were already having an impact on the ground and were in need of additional funding.

[edit] Constraints:

Information aggregated from other sources may need to be licensed

[edit] Extra Credit:

The possibility of aggregating more publicly available information, such as smart searches for information from a nonprofits website. See The Charity Rater (http://goodintents.org/the-charity-rater) and imagine it being automated instead of an individual needing to spend the time reviewing each nonprofit's website.

[edit] Similar Projects and Resources:

Some existing charity review/rating websites:Charity Navigator,Wise Giving Alliance,GuideStar,GlobalGiving,GiveWell,Philanthropedia,Root Cause,GreatNonProfits

[edit] Next Steps and Sustainability:

A team of MBA students won a national competition for this concept and there is a lot of interest from the major organizations already working in this space. We are in the process of writing a business plan and raising funding to bring this concept to market. There is a possibility of partnering with existing organizations to launch quickly rather than building a stand-alone platform.

[edit] Qualitative Impact:

Many highly effective nonprofits working on disaster relief or risk reduction (serving highly vulnerable populations) and environmental issues such as climate change waste valuable resources chasing after donations. We need to make it easier for donors to give to the nonprofits that are having a big impact, improving the lives of millions.

[edit] Quantitative Impact:

A lot! We haven't quantified this.