Reassessing Assessment: How does GENESIS have an advantage over Charity Navigator and other monitoring sites?

Robert Moreau

Research Analyst/Outreach

With a desire to donate contrasted by an unsteady economy and an abundance of non-profits and projects, philanthropists want to make sure their money is put to good use. In response to these concerns, sites such as Charity Navigator and GuideStar have surged to prominence and media exposure.

While the increased scrutiny of what organizations do with charitable donations is a positive trend, these evaluators’ exclusive reliance on quantitative financial data says little about how people are helped on the ground, or other important components that make a project worth supporting. Because of this, a merged assessment model emphasizing qualitative as well as quantitative measurements is a better way to evaluate effectiveness.

The Charity Navigator controversy (or “is a Form 990 really THE definitive measure of success?”)

Charity Navigator, online since 2001, describes itself as “America’s premier independent charity evaluator,” which “works to advance a more efficient and responsive philanthropic marketplace by evaluating the financial health of over 5,400 of America’s largest charities.” Its overview/about us section notes accolades received from magazines such as Time, Forbes, and BusinessWeek, as well as its use on cable programs ranging from “The Factor with Bill O’Reilly” to “The Daily Show.”

Charity Navigator ranks charities that are given a tax-exempt 501 c (3) status, through their IRS Form 990’s. Four years of 990 forms are required by Charity Navigator for evaluation purposes.

From Form 990 information, Charity Navigator ranks charities from 4 stars (“exceptional”) to 0 (“exceptionally poor”), evaluating their Organizational Capacity (revenue growth, expenses growth, working capital ratio) and Organizational Efficiency (fundraising efficiency and expenses, program and administrative expenses) to come up with their final score. More information can be found here.

Rated charities can be found in nine broad categories, with their own subcategories: Animals, Environment, International, Arts, Culture, Humanities, Health, Public Benefit, Education, Human Services, and Religion. It also maintains several “Top Ten” charity lists.

The dilemma of rating organizations through financial scales, however, is that they do not necessarily tell the picture of the services they are providing. As the Wall Street Journal explained in its December 19, 2008 article “Charity Rankings Giveth Less Than Meets the Eye”:

“Like stocks, charities are typically rated by their financial numbers or by qualitative characteristics such as corporate governance-or both. Unlike stocks, charities have no single measure akin to a business profit to determine successful performance. There is a widespread search for such a number, but the challenges may be too daunting. Meanwhile, some of the measures that are used may inspire bad actors to try to game the system.”

An April 2007 posting on netsquared.org is far less charitable in the wording of its assessment:

“The cornerstone of the rating is the program expenses divided by total expenses…this may be useful in weeding out the charities that are literally trying to scam you, but it is a backwards way to figuring out who actually helps people as effectively as possible…the quality of your plan is so much more important than the size of your budget.”

The rest of Charity Navigator’s criteria are even more nonsensical. Charities are rewarded for having growing revenues (i.e., good fundraisers) and growing expenses (so apparently finishing a project or reducing costs is a bad thing)…maybe the “fundraising efficiency” metric would have some meaning if ability to raise funds were at all connected to ability to help people…but that’s just the problem. It isn’t, as long as donors have no sources of real information.

The Gates Foundation…wouldn’t rely on this stuff in a million years.”

Indeed, Charity Navigator’s own ranking system is its self-admitted shortfall. Charity CEO Ken Berger was quoted in a January 2009 article in Washington Business Journal as saying “I think what happens is that some people go to the site, they type in the name, they look at the stars, they leave” despite a website blurb explaining that users shouldn’t just take its ratings as the only guide.

Charity Navigator and similar evaluators, in summary, make an honest effort to educate prospective donors about the organizations they may send funds to. But relying on a blank financial statement or statements such as a Form 990 alone does not tell the whole story of how a project is making an impact.

So, after all this, the question can be asked: Is there a better way? Yes, there is…

The GENESIS approach: Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment

As an innovative social networker for development organizations, the GENESIS Network’s goal is to “[provide] a highly interactive environment wherein organization members, philanthropists, project community members and volunteers communicate and collaborate effectively,” taking advantage of social media technology to promote a more transparent and efficient system of accountability. More specifically, with GENESIS:

Users can create a customized profile enabling them to actively keep track of projects they support, with tools ranging from regular progress reports to quality assessment ratings from donors, project staff, and third-party monitors.
Beneficiary pages enable donors to build a connection with the people they are helping.
All projects are posted online, with all initial information ratings once approved. Regular updates on progress, including changes, successes, failures, etc. are a strong determining factor in assessing a high-quality rating to an initiative.
Project data includes a clear explanation of finances and where money is allocated, enabling philanthropists to make smart choices about where their donations are going.

Through combining a mix of quantitative and qualitative data, as well as leveraging social media through enabling constant communication between donors, project leaders, and others, the GENESIS Network is actively creating a new standard of assessment and accountability.

For readers: What would you like to see from GENESIS in terms of promoting project accountability? What do you like about what the Network has to offer and where do you think it could improve? Any and all questions and comments are welcome.

Robert Moreau is Research Analyst/Outreach for the GENESIS Network. A 2008 Master’s graduate of the University of Massachusetts Lowell in Regional Economic and Social Development, Moreau has been working for GENESIS since July 2009. His work has included freelance newspaper pieces and a newsletter published for a Lowell-area social services agency in 2008.

Urgent: Give the gift of education this holiday season.

The Genesis Network is building its second primary school in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The new building, which will provide primary education to over 200 at-risk children in one of the country’s poorest areas, is the second being constructed under its Kid Launch project.

Currently in Thailand, almost one million children lack access to school, which leaves them vulnerable to the country’s extensive prostitution industry and human trafficking. Nearly 800,000 are employed as prostitutes. In response to the need for support, the Genesis Network initiated Kid Launch in the summer of 2008, with the goal of providing education and economic development in villages that ask for its assistance.

To complete this task, however, we need your support. Currently, there are two ways to give:

• We are currently accepting donations on our website. Make a donation.

• Thanksgiving/Holiday Cards: Businesses can purchase and send $50 gift cards as a way to donate. Give a card that helps.

Currently, we have raised 77 percent and making a huge push to achieve 100 percent funding this month, with the goal of completing construction by early December.

Please help us out in any way you can. Any contribution you can make is greatly appreciated and goes a long way towards guaranteeing a good quality education and stable future for children who are at risk of falling into prostitution and human trafficking. Feel free to email the Genesis team at info@gnetwork.org for any questions.

Thank you.

What role should youth serve in youth philanthropy initiatives?

Service_Learning The role of youth in charities vary from almost non-existent to limited roles where they can merely serve as a prop to communicate adults’ messages, to models where they have an equal role with adults or even run the organization entirely. The Jewish Teen Funders’ Network lists nine “degrees of participation” going down from maximum to minimum involvement.

9. Youth Initiated and Directed
8. Youth Initiated, Shared Decisions with Adults
7. Youth and Adult Initiated and Directed
6. Adult Initiated, Shared Decisions with Youth
5. Consulted and Informed
4. Assigned but Informed
3. Tokenism
2. Decoration
1. Manipulation

Though a strong adult-controlled model may be favored by those unsure about giving youth a decision-making stake, not acknowledging the skills and ideas of young participants can damage a program. As was noted in a 2001 University of Wisconsin-Madison study “the mutual contributions of youth and adults can result in a synergy, a new power and energy that propels decision-making groups to greater innovation and productivity…youth and adults become more committed to attending meetings and create a climate that is grounded in honest appraisal, reflection, and ongoing learning.” Through taking an active role as contributors and leaders, youth naturally feel more of a stake in the program and desire to involve themselves in it.

Many “best practice” guides recommend the creation of youth boards where teens take a direct role in program administration alongside adult members. The James Irvine Foundation notes that “creating youth boards linked to adult-driven institutions exposes youth to the process of making important decisions, while also demonstrating to adults how youth can be a part of critical community decisions.”

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation recommends diversity as critical in forming a successful youth board, with members of all “age, gender, race, religion, socio-economical, and geographical [groups]…leadership ability is distributed across the youth population; dropouts have just as much potential to lead as members of the National Honor Society.” The Kellogg Foundation, among its recommendations, suggests that “youth participants should range in age from 14 to 18 with attendance optional until the age of 21” and that youth members recruit replacements.

community_service_146235651_std For school-centered programs, though, initiation and implementation can be by default adult (teacher/faculty) led. Pennies for Peace is one example of this type of program. Established in 1994 as a program of the Central Asia Institute, Pennies encourages classrooms to fundraise for school-building and education in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Pennies expands by asking schools that want to start a campaign to register online, and provides them with a “toolkit” and other supplies such as videos and sample letters to parents and others. The campaign emphasizes that students should donate only pennies, as it believes this allows students of all economic backgrounds to be active contributors. One novel avenue Pennies for Peace emphasizes is direct implementation into class curriculum, such as teaching about Afghan and Pakistani history and culture.

The Genesis Network’s Change for Hope Youth Empowerment Program hopes to improve on the Pennies model through creating a platform where students can move into leadership roles. Concentrated on fundraising for school construction along the Burmese/Thai border, Change for Hope describes itself as “[giving] students an opportunity to apply themselves to real issues and develop real projects that make real differences…[and] the unique opportunity to build direct relationships with Burmese children.” Change for Hope’s goals include eventually establishing itself as a student-run group, as well as providing participants with opportunities including internships and volunteering abroad.

As concluding questions: If your organization runs a youth philanthropy program, what opportunities do you provide or wish to provide for young participants? More specifically, what are the different roles youth and adults have and how do they interact? What approaches work best for you and what additional points do you think charities can learn from? All answers, as well as other questions and comments are more than appreciated.

Genesis Network project opens new school in Baan Phai Du

The Genesis Network’s Kid Launch program continued to break ground on its education and development initiative in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand, with the opening of a new primary school in the village of Baan Phai Du.

The new facility will provide education to 150 children in one of Thailand’s most impoverished areas. It is the second following the opening of a 65-student school in the village of Sob Mae Stop in April. Currently, 15 Chinese students work there alongside four Thai teachers, with more helpers from other countries expected.

A mainly Karen-speaking village of 500 residents, Baan Phai Du was selected due to a direct request by the community for educational and development aid. Baan Phai Du’s existing educational infrastructure, including residence facilities for teachers, presented an advantage as it enabled resources to be concentrated exclusively on building construction and purchasing of school supplies.

Currently in Thailand, almost a million children do not have primary school access. Without the benefit of an education, they face the severe risk of becoming human trafficking victims, or being forced into the country’s extensive prostitution industry. These circumstances make engagement by philanthropists and NGOs a critical need.

The ultimate goal of Kid Launch’s initiative in Chiang Mai Province is to provide primary education to over 400 children per year, as well as enable further job opportunities. The project is active in ten villages.
Kid Launch is a project of the Genesis Network that aims to provide self-sustaining educational and community development programs in Northern Thailand’s poorest areas. It hopes to “[breach] the confines of the classroom to build an active community atmosphere, social collaboration, a mutual sense of responsibility among its members, and overall unity cohesion.”

More information about Kid Launch can be found at its page on the Genesis Network site.

The Secret to Sustainability: Local Empowerment and Community Participation

bolivia_volunteer_sws_photo_dbeams Currently, the global movement to fight poverty looks to be succeeding. The World Bank notes that “the proportion of the developing world’s population living in extreme economic poverty-defined as living on less than $1.25 per day…has fallen from 52 percent in 1981 to 26 percent in 2005.” However, the Bank noted, this statistic “masks large regional differences,” especially in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite declining poverty rates, the number of total poor globally has remained unchanged, at 1.2 billion.

The first thought when addressing poverty may be to think on the macro-level; looking in terms of countries or regions. However, as Grantmakers Without Borders reminds us, the grassroots level must be a critical focus of development efforts, as there “are to be found those most acutely affected by injustice, and the experience and power to develop solutions.” There “a small grant can go a long way. There, the size of the grant often matters less than such important factors as need, timing and flexibility.”

GWB lists thirteen “Key Elements of Successful Grassroots Projects.” These are:
• Popular Particpiation
• Tackling of Institutional Barriers and Discrimination
• Energetic and Committed Leadership
• Resident Skill
• Community Motivation and Tenacity
• Community Resource Mobilization
• Social and Participatory Research
• “Outsiders” as Key Actors
• Historical Structural Economic Factors
• Single-Minded Project Zeal
• Sustainable Development
• Replicability
• The Role of the Outside Funder

The key to any successful grassroots project, GWB notes, is the focus on empowering local communities and their expertise, responding to their needs while creating self-sustainability. Indeed, a large-scale initiative, the Community-initiated Agriculture and Resource Management Project (CARD) active in Belize from 1999-2006 was plagued by disconnect between communities’ desired programs and project leadership. “In the isolated cases where community priorities had been supported,” the International Fund for Agriculture and Development noted, “the results were very positive, with groups demonstrating improved financial and organizational capacity, as well as recording increases in their enterprise activities.

In its mission, the Genesis Network emphasizes connecting grassroots projects with donors and volunteers as critical to promoting sustainability and growth in developing regions, emphasizing “the highest returns on human rights advancement to every dollar irrespective of the beneficiaries’ gender, culture, religion, or nationality.” Through creating growth and self-sustainability community by community, we hope to lift societies from the cycle of poverty and create a path to a better future.

Philanthropy 2.0

Social Media: a new way of giving
Buy tickets at: philanthropy20.eventbrite.com

Social Empowerment Organization Hosts Children’s Rights Benefit at Prana Restaurant

Genesis Network, an international human rights development organization, to hold fundraiser to help build schools in Burma and Thailand.

08.23.2009 – Prana SF in the SOMA district will be hosting a benefit to help make Philanthropy 2.0 possible. The elegant evening will include live music, a silent auction and fusion dining with a dynamic and caring crowd. Genesis Network is a social media platform that increases the efficiency of philanthropy by connecting givers with the needy. The goal of this fundraiser is to raise funds for site development and pilot projects that provide Thai and Burmese children with schooling.

Imagine if when we donated to a cause a regularly updated profile was available along with online communication with the aid recipient instead of a simple thank-you card. Imagine we could see where our money went and interact with those we helped.

Genesis Network is essentially Facebook between philanthropists and NGOs. Non-profits will be given profile pages, as will philanthropists. The philanthropists will have a massive database of NGO’s at their finger tips and be able to choose from a buffet of causes and organizations (soon to be rated by peers on the site) to donate to. Once a donation is made, representatives and beneficiaries from the project will be in communication with the donors like pen pals. This is a way to see where your money goes first hand. Philanthropists will be able to form communities and initiatives together. The aim is to connect investors, donors, organizations, volunteers, and community leaders, in hopes of building a decentralized, open source network . We are a democratically determined 501C who embrace the open-source philosophy. We want to give everyone the tools to organize and make an impact. The Network is a 501(c)3 nonprofit and was incorporated in 2008 in Providence, RI by founder Adam Swartzbaugh. www.gnetwork.org

Entry is $175 dinner and first bids (table Price $100 discount). $75 Hor d’oeuvres. Donations are always welcome. RSVPs are requested by August 10th. For more information, call 415-533-7601 or visit www.genesisnetwork.org.

How ICTs Can Change the World: Giving Every Man a Voice

telecenter, Sri Lanka

In our modern world, new technologies such as the internet and social networking platforms have served as an engine of globalization. Through giving users a way to communicate across geographic boundaries, they have brought the globe closer together than at any time in history.

“ICTs”, or Information and Communication Technologies, identifies any long-distance communication outlet, ranging from radio and television to cell phones and broadband. Along with convenience, the impact established and emerging ICTs can have on activism and social programs cannot be overstated. In particular, the United Nations is emphasizing Information and Communications Technologies for Development (ICT4D) to link populations in developing areas. Since 1992, the UNDP has taken on various initiatives including the creation of a trust fund to fund expansion of ICT use “in close to 25 developing countries, on a demand-driven basis.”

Since its inception, the Genesis Network has sought to take social networking to a new level in this regard. Genesis’s ongoing objective is to give human rights-focused nonprofits a new way to reach out to prospective donors and partners, as well as connect with volunteers and beneficiaries. Among the Network’s features:
• Users can synch Genesis with existing networks, connecting through Facebook and using Twitter feeds to update their status.
• Users can invite friends and search for members who have similar interests or projects.
• Direct communication with individual beneficiaries. Through using network profiles, donors can search for both children in need of assistance and existing programs working to help them. Ongoing connections between benefactors and those they aid can be established.
• Within Genesis, individual organizations can create their own networks with features including being able to track proposed plans and budgets for new projects.

Through growing and developing this unique platform, Genesis hopes build new connections that can make a better world possible, project by project.

Creating Change in Burma: the Grassroots Approach

In the past two years, events catapulted Myanmar (Burma) to the forefront of world attention, as coverage of the “Saffron Revolution” protests and Cyclone Nargis shined light on a country suffering from extreme poverty and conflict. As the Christian Science Monitor observed in a September 20, 2007 article

“While Burma was once so productive that it was known as Asia’s rice bowl, today nearly a third of Burmese are chronically malnourished or physically underdeveloped, according to the World Food Program. The per capita income is around $175, among the lowest in Asia-even below neighboring Bangladesh. Ninety percent of the population lives at or below the poverty line.”

In its 2007-2008 Human Development Index the UNDP ranked Burma 132 out of 177 countries, taking into account life expectancy, adult literacy, school enrollment, and GDP per capita.
• According to the U.S. Campaign for Burma, “in 2004, only 85.1% of Burmese children are enrolled in primary school, down from 97.8% in 1991.” Financial hardships and safety concerns lead to only 34% enrollment rates in secondary schools, leading many to “trek through the jungle to the refugee camps on the Thai border for education.”
• A June 2009 U.S. State Department report on human trafficking noted Burma as a “source country” for trafficking for sexual and other forced labor and a “destination country for child sex tourism.”
• Human Rights Watch identified Burma in 2002 as having “the largest number of child soldiers in the world,” with both the national army and opposition groups contributing to the dilemma.

As Burma’s devastated condition critically impacts the younger generation, long-term stability is put at severe risk. Fortunately, organizations are responding with programs emphasizing local empowerment and educational support to give children a future.
The Genesis Network’s own New Hope is one of these initiatives. Active along the Burmese-Thai border, New Hope provides social, medical, and educational support including school construction. It emphasizes an approach that develops “children’s emotional strength and wisdom along with their physical strength. “ Its Three Pagodas Pass project hopes among its goals to provide schooling to over 60 orphans per year and social support services to over 300, targeting an area of the country that has long been a center of political and ethnic conflict.

Though there is much work to be done, social and educational programs such as New Hope indicate the possibility of change for the future. Through building up local communities and giving children an opportunity to learn, organizers set the groundwork for an end to the cycle of poverty and create the op burma aid 1 portunity for progress. As New Hope emphasizes, “the future can…likewise be changed-one mind at a time.”
burma-refugees

The Genesis Network’s Hopes and Dreams Harborside

Philanthropists, social entrepreneurs, business leaders and volunteers from New England are expected to attend a gala benefit on Saturday, August 1, 2009, 6:30PM on Portsmouth (NH) Harbor to support needy children in Burma and Thailand. The evening will include special guest Terie Norelli, New Hampshire’s Speaker of the House and a presentation by Adam Swartzbaugh, Genesis Network founder, on how the philanthropic organization’s efforts have helped children’s rights in developing countries.

“The New Hampshire Portsmouth Harbor is a picturesque setting for the event. The elegant evening will include live music, a silent auction and sunset dining with a dynamic and caring crowd.” – Adam Swartzbaugh, Genesis Network Founder.

All proceeds will go directly to build schools and support Genesis Network initiatives. Projects will help prevent child trafficking, prostitution and slave labor.

To attend the event, visit: www.HopesandDreams.eventbrite.co

Sponsors include: Green Pages Technology Solutions, The Chris Humphrey Big Band and Oceanos Marketing. For sponsorship opportunities contactinfo@gnetwork.org .

About The Genesis Network:

The Genesis Network is an international empowerment and sustainable social improvement organization. The Network is a 501(c)3 nonprofit and was incorporated in 2008 in Providence, RI by founder Adam Swartzbaugh. www.gnetwork.org

Entry is $50, and donations are always welcome RSVPs are requested by July 26^th. For more information, call 603-380-3284 or visithttp://hopesanddreams.eventbrite.com/.

Welcome to the Genesis Network Blog

The Genesis Network was incorporated in 2008 as a nonprofit international nongovernmental human rights protection networking organization. It connects the dots of philanthropy in a mission built upon heart and soul. Transparency and accountability form the rock upon which its legitimacy and credibility are built and sustained. We back projects that have the highest returns on human rights advancement to every dollar irrespective of the beneficiaries’ gender, culture, religion or nationality.