Philanthropic Benchmarking Tool

Measuring the effectiveness of philanthropic organisations using a new benchmarking tool was under the spotlight at the recent Philanthropy Australia 2014 National Conference in Melbourne.

Three Australian philanthropic foundations – Origin Foundation, CAGES Foundation and Dusseldorp Forum – have created a benchmark tool in conjunction with the research consultancy, Pollinate.

“Giving away money is easy, it is called charity,” Sean Barrett of the Origin Foundation said. “Giving money with purpose is difficult, and it’s called philanthropy.”

“At a time when philanthropic dollars are in short supply, and expectations of the Not for Profit sector are increasing, it is important that philanthropic organisations are also performing effectively.”

Teya Dusseldorp, Executive Director of Dusseldorp Forum, said: “There is an inherent power imbalance between those giving the money and those receiving it, and each philanthropic organisation has different processes. We want to know what we can do better.”

Developed by Pollinate, the tool is an independently conducted survey that allows beneficiaries to provide anonymous feedback.

“Who is going to tell someone who provides sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding, that they are difficult to deal with or could do better?”Howard Parry-Husbands of Pollinate said.

The three foundations launching the initiative have very different backgrounds: CAGES Foundation is a private ancillary fund, Dusseldorp Forum is an independent Foundation in the education arena and Origin is a corporate Foundation.

“We are already learning lessons on where we can improve, ” Dusseldorp said. “Targeting our support where it is needed, we are investing our time and resources more effectively.”

“The long-term value will be if more philanthropic foundations are willing to join the initiative, building a robust benchmark of performance.”

For more information go to: http://dusseldorp.org.au/partner/philanthropy-benchmarking-index/