Geneva Global has re-launched BeyondPhilanthropy.org:
Beyond Philanthropy is Geneva Global’s forum for comment and analysis on the philanthropy and social investing industries. Beyond Philanthropy is not about Geneva Global; it is about our perspective on the broader world of development, philanthropy, and dual-purpose investing. While the media coverage of these topics has skyrocketed in recent years, we find much of the coverage is disjointed, and difficult to find and follow. Worst of all, it fails to address key questions that can help investors make more effective and rewarding choices.
We intend Beyond Philanthropy to be a resource for donors and investors who care about being effective. We’ll highlight news and opinions that we think should be more broadly known, and we’ll point out stories we think are off the mark.
Our goal is for Beyond Philanthropy to be a vital resource for donors and investors, whether they are clients of Geneva Global or not. Additionally we will: advocate wise stewardship and results-based investing and giving, encourage thoughtful dialogue on innovation in philanthropy, and question the status quo in development, philanthropy and social investing.
Geneva Global offers their investor/donors their proprietary Delta Reports (as one element of their broad services). These 8-12 page reports focus on a specific project and have section titles such as:
- Overview
- Expected Life Change Results
- What We Like About This Project
- Vision
- Need
- Strategy
- Proposed Action
- Evaluation Metrics
- Depth Analysis
- Risk Analysis
- Organization
- Leadership
They provide a “Delta Score” that attempts to measure the “relative grant effectiveness” and a “Grant Profile” that measures the “aggregate project risk”.
If it becomes available, I’ll link to a sample report in the future. I’ve reviewed a number of Delta Reports and think they’re excellent. They do a good job of balancing quantitative and qualitative analysis. Geneva Global is focused on helping very large donors engage in effective international giving. But maybe someday, Delta Report-style reviews will be available for many US based charities as well.
If you haven’t seen a full review from GiveWell yet, check one out. I think they do a great job as well. And I like that they list all their sources so you can look at the raw information yourself.