The Impact Project 

A project designed to create
a paradigm shift in charitable giving.


OUR VISION
We believe that it is possible to increase impact in the non-profit sector by a factor of ten (10x) without increasing the current level of giving in the U.S. 
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.​
Common Metric:
There is not common metric to measure success in the non-profit sector, which creates tension and confusion for donors and charities seeking to benchmark and optimize programs.
Consistent Data:
There is no database that donors can rely on to measure, compare, or benchmark charitable impact; this dilutes accountability in the non-profit sector and limits donor potential.

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
  • Improving quality of life
  • Improving quantity of life ​
Both of these outcomes are independently quantifiable and can be combined into a single metric using a variation of a Cost Per Quality Adjusted Life Year ($/QALY). The QALY metric has been used to assess the value of money for medical interventions since roughly 1976; we have developed a variation of this metric to help quantify charitable impact in a more consistent manner. 

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 "BURDEN WEIGHTS"
Burden Weights are a key metric needed for measuring impact.  Similar in concept to health utility weights which reflect the level of physical, mental, and social functioning associated with a particular health state and the weight the general population gives to that health state, burden weights help us assign a value to the things that cause suffering in our society.

By assigning values to the burdens that nonprofits aim to alleviate or avert, we create a consistent scoring system that can be applied to a more comprehensive formula to help measure impact using a common metric. 

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. 

Want to get involved?

There are two ways that you can help support the Impact Project:

DONATE

Become a regular donor and help move the Impact Project forward. 

VOLUNTEER

Volunteer to participate in surveys that provide key data for helping others measure impact. 

The Impact Guide

We 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.

CALCULATE IMPACT

Use 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? Follow Effective Give on Facebook to join the conversation. 
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.
Effective Give is a recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that exists to educate and equip exempt organizations and the public with tools, resources, and information for more sustainable and effective charitable giving.
© 2020 Effective Give, Inc.