The Impact Project
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par·a·digm shift: an important change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way
OUR SOLUTION
There are many factors that hinder a donor's ability to make an impact, but we are focusing on issues that we believe will result in the greatest good.
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OUR STRATEGY
1. DEVELOP A COMMON METRIC FOR SUCCESS |
We believe that all charitable activity is done for the purpose of achieving at least one of two outcomes for beneficiaries
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2. ESTABLISH A BASELINE |
There is a large disparity of impact among organizations in the non-profit sector. While evaluating the non-profit sector as a whole is not realistic at this point (something we plan to change), it is worth noting that the U.S. Healthcare Intervention Threshold has historically been around $50,000/QALY for "high value" interventions. What this means is that healthcare economists will generally regard an intervention as having high value if it can result in one additional quality year of life for a beneficiary.
By comparison, there are several high-impact charities that fall well below our current recommended baseline of $500/QALY, making them 100x more effective than the U.S. Healthcare Intervention Threshold. Dramatically increasing impact in the non-profit sector is easier than many people may think if donors just have access to the right information. |
3. DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE DATABASE FOR UTILITY SCORES |
Utility Scores are a key metric needed for measuring impact. The health utility score reflects the level of physical, mental, and social functioning associated with a particular health state and the preference weight the general population gives to that health state.
Currently the most comprehensive collection of disability weights (the inverse of health utility scores) come from the Global Health Data Exchange and was last updated in 2016. Our goal is to expand upon this list to cover a broader set of burdens than what currently exists, making the this key metric more accessible to measuring and comparing impact. Consider volunteer for our Daily Good program if you would like to contribute to this effort. |
4. LAUNCH AN "EXCHANGE" FOR HIGH-IMPACT CHARITIES |
Think about your ability to check on the stock price for a publicly traded company; it is simple and immediate. Because we have access to an exchange of information for publicly traded companies through stock markets, investors and their Advisors can conduct research and due diligence using a common metric (price per share) to approximate the perceived value of a stock.
Now imagine a similar exchange of information for the charitable sector. Using a common metric to measure impact ($/QALY), donors and professional charitable Advisors would be able to conduct research and due diligence on charitable programs. This is much different from the inconsistent performance metrics that are available to donors today which tend to focus on outputs that are not easily comparable from one organization to the next. Making this information available through a public "exchange" will empower donors to optimize their charitable resources for greater impact. |
The Impact GuideWe designed the Impact Guide so that donors can start optimizing their charitable impact on their own without having to wait for the Impact Project to be completed.The guide provides step-by-step instructions for how to measure impact and calculate donor bias. Donors looking for more support can also join our the Effective Give Insiders community on Facebook to ask questions or leave feedback.
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CALCULATE IMPACTUse the calculator to help you approximate the impact of a charity that you are considering donating to. Compare the results of multiple organizations, or use our recommend benchmark to find charities that fall below $500/QALY.
Have questions or want to connect with like-minded donors? Join the Effective Give Insiders group on Facebook to join the conversation. |
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A very special thanks to the QuestionPro Team!
Apart from the free survey software, we also have access to QuestionPro's free survey templates . We've found many of them useful and powerful to collect insights from various stakeholders of our organization. |