Kate Bahen is the managing director of Charity Intelligence, which researches how much or how little a charity creates change and social impact with the money it receives from donors.
With many Canadians feeling the tightening of their budgets because of the rising cost of living 鈥 everything from food to housing costs 鈥 knowing how any precious charitable donation you make will be used may be top of mind.
In 2020, an Angus Reid Institute survey, conducted in partnership with Cardus, Charitable Impact, Imagine 91原创, Philanthropic Foundations 91原创, United Way and 91原创Helps, found that 60 per cent of Canadians are doing research when it comes to charities.
But knowing where to start so you are informed about the impact your donation has 鈥 where it is going and how is it being used 鈥 can be a daunting task for some. Where do I look? What am I you looking for? And how do I measure impact?
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
Kate Bahen is the managing director of Charity Intelligence, which researches how much or how little a charity creates change and social impact with the money it receives from donors.
Charity Intelligence
鈥淕ive yourself permission to ask questions,鈥 said Kate Bahen. 鈥淵our questions are legitimate. Go to the charity鈥檚 website and see if it answers the questions you have. How many people did it serve? Where does it work? What does it do? Is it financially transparent rather than we were founded in 19-something and are a good charity.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the facts, not the marketing,鈥 she said.聽聽聽
Bahen is the managing director of , which researches how much or how little a charity creates change and social impact with the money it receives from donors. For the last 18 years it has released its top picks for charities that have the greatest impact when it comes to how donations are used.聽
鈥淎bout only three per cent of donors think about impact, and it is something donors did not think about 20 years ago. It was always, 鈥榯here is a fundraiser, you give money, well done, didn鈥檛 you do good.鈥 And this whole area of following the dollar 鈥 where did it go, how did it help, how much of a difference did it make? 鈥 that is a radical new initiative in giving,鈥 said Bahen.
鈥淚t is not like putting together an Ikea cabinet, it is not something you can do at home. Right now, it takes PHDs, economics, statistics and an enormous amount of time. I know we spent three years measuring the impact of 92 charities.鈥
Greg Thomson is the director of research at Charity Intelligence
Charity Intelligence
Greg Thomson is the director of research at Charity Intelligence. It is his team that researches each charity profile and measure how much change a charity makes with every dollar it gets. While impact is difficult to measure, he said there are things people can look for 鈥 the first being how is that charity spending its money.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
鈥淪ay it has four programs, can I see how much money goes to each program, and for each of those programs what happened? How many people are served? What did they do for those people? Is there any indication that their lives were different after they helped them?鈥 he said.
Both he and Bahen point to a 91原创 Helps survey that found 93 per cent of respondents expect charities to invest in measuring and reporting the impact of their work.
鈥淚 want to know that there has been change that has happened. It doesn鈥檛 matter if people have been made happy or 1,000 people were served, because we do not know what 鈥榮erved鈥 means. It is digging in that one extra step and saying, 鈥榃hat happened, what was the change that happened?鈥欌 said Thomson.聽
If those contextual details are not available on the website, then Bahen and Thomson said you should call the charity and ask them for the information you want to know.
鈥淚t is okay to ask questions,鈥 Bahen said. 鈥淚f your questions are not being answered, then your giving deserves better. Be confident in your giving.鈥
DISCLAIMER: This content was funded but not approved by the advertiser.
