Comments on: Rating Social Investments http://philanthropy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/11/14/rating-social-investments/ The World Affairs Blog Network Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:34:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 By: Michele Fugiel http://philanthropy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/11/14/rating-social-investments/comment-page-1/#comment-4385 Michele Fugiel Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:06:20 +0000 http://philanthropy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/11/14/rating-social-investments/#comment-4385 Gerardine, Many thanks for your comment. In trying to be thoughtful on this topic, I always end up going in circles. A mandated tool could very possibly be too burdensome and there is no one-size fits all approach. On the other side, without some metrics (quanitative and qualitative) its difficult to understand how a organization is doing - making donors a bit more unsettled in writing a big check. Any tool will only provide a certain lens - a framework for viewing the organization. I'm skeptical that you can ever achieve full understanding. I heard a great quote today "Anxiety is driven out of ambiguity." Transparency really has to be at the top of the list - for both organizations and donors. Communication is key and I think actual engagement in an organization is even better. Gerardine,

Many thanks for your comment. In trying to be thoughtful on this topic, I always end up going in circles. A mandated tool could very possibly be too burdensome and there is no one-size fits all approach. On the other side, without some metrics (quanitative and qualitative) its difficult to understand how a organization is doing - making donors a bit more unsettled in writing a big check.

Any tool will only provide a certain lens - a framework for viewing the organization. I’m skeptical that you can ever achieve full understanding.

I heard a great quote today “Anxiety is driven out of ambiguity.” Transparency really has to be at the top of the list - for both organizations and donors. Communication is key and I think actual engagement in an organization is even better.

]]> By: Gerardine Luongo http://philanthropy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/11/14/rating-social-investments/comment-page-1/#comment-4216 Gerardine Luongo Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:48:12 +0000 http://philanthropy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/11/14/rating-social-investments/#comment-4216 I would guess that any non-profit worth the attention of a donor will agree that measuring social impact is a critical compentent of service delivery. The concern about mandating a specific tool is that it does account for the fact that many organizations have data-collection methods in place; the interest of funder's may be served by asking if a donor has an evalution system in place and reviewing existing data before making a requirement that an altrenative method is warrented. A mandated tool supports the donors need for ease in reviewing current and potential grantees but may be an added and unfunded burden on the NGO that is not really needed. I would guess that any non-profit worth the attention of a donor will agree that measuring social impact is a critical compentent of service delivery. The concern about mandating a specific tool is that it does account for the fact that many organizations have data-collection methods in place; the interest of funder's may be served by asking if a donor has an evalution system in place and reviewing existing data before making a requirement that an altrenative method is warrented. A mandated tool supports the donors need for ease in reviewing current and potential grantees but may be an added and unfunded burden on the NGO that is not really needed.

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