We focus on finding charities that are doing demonstrably good work already, rather than on proposals for new sorts of projects. This post is an exception: we’ve been tossing around an idea for “philanthropy vouchers” that we think could be worth trying in a broad variety of contexts, and we’re interested in others’ thoughts. The…
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Smile Train in its own words
We recently argued that Smile Train has “more dollars than doctors” for its core program. In that light, yesterday’s Virginian-Pilot article (which quotes me) is interesting: The main story is that Smile Train has been trying to make substantial and unrestricted grants to another major cleft surgery charity, Operation Smile. This despite the fact that…
Cash as a benchmark?
Franck Wiebe, guest-blogging at Aid Watch, proposes: in the interest of aid effectiveness and as a starting point, donors could agree not to fund projects unless they can be demonstrated to be at least as good as a cash transfer. Is that too much to ask of aid? In concept, we think it’s a great…
Why not just give out cash?
Aid Watch raises an interesting question: why should nonprofits provide medical treatment, education, or anything else other than cash handouts to those in the greatest need? I can only think of two reasons, both noted in the Aid Watch post. Reason 1: perhaps charities can make better decisions on behalf of disadvantaged people than those…