We don’t know whether our charitable efforts are effective
And that’s a big problem, considering Americans gave some $410 billion to good causes in 2017. But without a more organized effort to measure the impacts of this work, and to focus efforts more on underserved communities, it’s hard to prove that philanthropy is anything more than self-serving. Click through for a fascinating interview with Aaron Dorfman, the president and CEO of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, which does research to make sure that interventions actually help the people they attempt to serve. “In our last analysis, 90% of the 1,000 biggest foundations in the country direct less than half of their dollars to benefit underserved communities. It’s shocking,” he says. “People will sometimes be upset by our work, but we’re trying to move philanthropy forward.”
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