How a Zagat-Style Website Will Make Philanthropy More Accountable
by Benjamin Soskis
The Atlantic
May 20, 2014
Perhaps part of the reason why is that such critiques have become so routine that we’ve become somewhat desensitized to them; their grooves have run so deep into the contemporary discourse on philanthropy that they seem more often to substitute for, rather than to stimulate, action.
Which makes the latest project of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP), an independent watchdog of foundations, all the more promising. This month, the NCRP unveiled Philamplify, a website that the Washington Post describes as “Yelp for the philanthropy sector.” But that sells the site short. It offers not just crowdsourcing intel on philanthropy, but also expert evaluations, two types of assessments that are rarely conjoined. Philamplify features detailed, independent reports on the nation’s leading foundations produced by NCRP staff and provides a forum for the public to weigh in on those foundations’ successes and failures.
Leave a Reply