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Inferno, Purgatory, Paradise?
The slippery road of philanthropic impact assessment
Dr Tobias Jung
http://www.philanthropy.scot
Copenhagen, 31st March 2017
Images: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/32/bd/71/32bd71c7ca46309ec6da7cc3cf0abb86.gif; http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NTU0WDg2Ng==/z/o8wAAOSw8d9U0OFH/$_32.JPG?set_id=880000500F
Philanthropy?
The use of private resources – treasure, time
and talent – for public purposes.
Phillips and Jung, 2016: 7
Today’s focus
•Pressure to measure
• Issues to consider
Pressure to measure
‘New Philanthropy’: to infinity and beyond…
• Philanthropreneur
• Entrepreneurial philanthropy
• Catalytic philanthropy
• Creative philanthropy
• Strategic philanthropy
• Venture philanthropy
• Philanthrocapitalism….
From ‘Do-Gooders’ to ‘Do-Besters’
'In philanthropy, these are the people who have great compassion, but who, when determining how to express their compassion, use robust, logical thought processes to figure out how best to improve the world
Friedman, 2013: 7
Philanthropic Impact Discourse = Dante’s Divine Comedy?
• Inferno – philanthropy s past (and status quo)?
• Purgatory – the promise of impact measurement?
• Paradise – virtuous philanthropy ?
Image: http://timelineflorence.com/cortex/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/1465-domenico-di-michelino-dante.jpeg
However…
Issue 1: Rhetoric vs Reality
New wine…
Billions are wasted on ineffective philanthropy.
Philanthropy is decades behind business in applying
rigorous thinking to the use of money
Michael Porter, Quoted in The Economist, 23rd February 2006
…pretty old bottles…
Of every thousand dollars spent in so-called charity to-day, it is probable that nine hundred and fifty dollars is unwisely spent…[O]ne of the chief obstacles which the philanthropist meets in his efforts to do real and permanent good in this world, is the practice of indiscriminate giving; and the duty of the millionaire is to resolve to cease giving to objects that are not clearly proved to his satisfaction to be deserving
Andrew Carnegie, The Gospel of Wealth, 1901
Issue 2: Tools vs Transition
Tools…
Source: https://avpn.asia/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/evpa-graphic.jpeg https://image.slidesharecdn.com/measuringtheimpactofvolunteeringeventionajoy27mar2015csv-150402035036-conversion-gate01/95/csv-nnvia-measuring-impact-of-volunteering-event-iona-joy-270315-6-638.jpg?cb=1427946779
Trelstad 2016: 585
…transition
Geels, 2002: 1263
Issue 3: Control vs Care
Changes in discourse and perspective…
Old New Grantor Investor Grantee Investee Gift or grant Investment Deliverables Social return on investment Program Venture Community impact Scalable models Grant proposal Theory of change
Scott, 2009: 116
Image: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0895/0864/products/1150390_1024x1024.jpeg?v=1449159922
…missing what is important?
Issue 4: Knowledge vs Wisdom
Image: http://flavoritetomatoes.com.au/wp-content/uploads/RZNL110503_005_10_N128_RZ1.jpg
Wisdom
Knowledge
Information
Data
DIKW Hierarchy
Rowley, 2006: 2
Issue 5: Philanthropy vs Power
Opportunities…
Image: http://cdn2.business2community.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Think-Inside-the-Box-Before-Proposing-Change.jpg.jpg
…Total Impact!
Concluding thoughts
There is too much measurement going on. Some things which are numerically precise are not true; and some things which are not numerical are true. Orthodox research produces results which are statistically significant but humanly insignificant; in human inquiry it is much better to be deeply interesting than accurately boring.
Reason and Rowan, 1981
Philanthropy!
From the Greek philos (love) and anthropos (humanity), philanthropy was first
used in around 460BC by playwright Aeschylus to describe the moment when the
Titan Prometheus, out of his philanthropos tropos , his love of humanity, offered
two complementary gifts to the somewhat inept and disappointing human
creatures he had created: fire, symbolising all knowledge and practical skills, and
blind hope, providing optimism and empowerment to innovate.
Jung and Harrow, 2016
