Beyond feel-good philanthropy

The US media such as the Wall Street Journal regularly run stories drawing attention to the importance of philanthropic effectiveness. The recent tragedy in Haiti has led some commentators to the courageous position of suggesting that the rush of giving to relieve that catastrophe may not be the most effective way of converting compassion to results. Suddenly, therefore, instead of talking about how wonderfully risk-taking, innovative and transformative philanthropy is, the commentators are talking about the need to make sure that social investment is effective, and can be shown to be so. This is, in my view, a very good place for the debate to have moved to. Encouragingly, a similar focus is emerging in Australia too.