Giving With Impact

At Charity Intelligence, our motto is: Be informed. Give intelligently. Have impact. We see these as the basic building blocks for donors to be able to strengthen the charitable sector and produce a better Canadian society.
 
In order to have the most impact with your giving, donors must give intelligently. In order to give intelligently, donors must be informed. So the question that we continually wrestle with is: what information do donors need to be informed?
 
In 2006, Charity Intelligence started researching and analysing charities, gathering the data that we believed was most important.  We gathered information on charities’ management and operations, analyzed financial data, and dug into available information on the social results produced by charities – the impact of the charities’ programs.
 
The essential information about a charity is the clients it serves, the work it undertakes, and the results it achieves – how the charity helps to change lives. Providing this information for donors is called “results reporting”. This is far more important than fundraising costs and administrative overhead, in our opinion. Yet this critical information is often not disclosed.  
 
Charity Intelligence assesses a charity’s social results from the information posted on its website and in annual reports, newsletters, impact reports, etc. We believe all donors should have access to results information, whether they donate $20 or $100,000. We encourage charities to publicly post annual results for all to read. 
 

Giving with impact 

We also assess charities’ demonstrated impact per dollar donated so that donors can understand what is likely to happen because of their generosity. Is the charity likely to use their donation to create a lot of change or just a little, or is it impossible to tell? We know that donors want to know what impact the charities they support are having, so we let them know what impact the charities have demonstrated.
 
 
 
For donors interested in giving for impact, and trustees of foundations making grants, this is an exceptional article on how to evaluate charities and grant applications. Real World Impact Measurement: “Good enough” = simple enough to do, but rigourous enough to mean something written by Kevin Starr and Laura Hattendorf, Mulago Foundation, published in Stanford Social Innovation Review, September 2012

Trustees and Wills

Ci has also worked with trustees and people creating their wills and bequests. Each donor has unique wishes. We listen. And we research. We put forward to the trustees the best charity “fits” we know of to meet the donor’s will.

One of the very best aspects of being my mother’s trustee was making your acquaintance by phone and email. I do not know how I would have succeeded with making the donations the Will required without your input and assistance … thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your help, kindness and generosity.”

“Unexpectedly I was tasked with locating charitable recipients for a six-figure bequest. Finding Charity Intelligence and their research reports, in particular Ci Top Picks 2012, was a terrific step toward identifying organizations where donations would make a significant impact. Kate Bahen, Managing Director of Ci, was unstinting in giving me of her time, experience, and knowledge of individual organizations. She suggested speaking with Executive Directors directly, as well as expanded on the information provided in the reports on charities of specific interest to me. I was enormously grateful for the assistance which directly led to effective donations which I am proud to have facilitated.”

Anyone who wishes to make an impact with their charitable giving would, in my opinion, be well-advised to take advantage of Ci’s website with its broad range of information.”

Please call us at 416.363.1555. We have more files and notes on charities than are posted on the website. We can dig to find charities that match your passion. Your giving can do tremendous things when you find the right charity.