Kate Bahen: Charity Intelligence: The case for smart giving

By Aleksandra Hernandez

When I think of charity, I think of cancer research. My love for the cause, and my desire to help, compel me to give. The question is, am I giving to the right charity?

“Approximately $10-billion of private funding goes into the non-profit sector every year. The challenge is not necessarily to give more, but how to give,” says Kate Bahen.

Bahen is the managing director of Charity Intelligence, a volunteer-run organization that seeks out “the facts about what any given charity actually does, where the money is actually spent, and the results that it achieves.”

There are over 82,000 charities in Canada. Some are doing exceptional work and yield excellent results. However, not all of these charities are receiving the level of recognition that they deserve. Not surprisingly, charities with affluent donors and the most effective advertising campaigns get the most money.

Charity Intelligence does the legwork by assessing whether a given charity needs funding based on what it does and the impact of its work. Using consistent methods of analysis, Charity Intelligence compares a charity with other charities that do similar work and looks out for the ones that yield excellent results at the lowest cost. “We want to help charities with the best results and advise our clients to donate not based on who they know, but what charities do and what they achieve. Our vision is for excellence to be rewarded,” she says.

For example, when looking to donate in the education sector, it is important not to ignore the fact that 40,000 teens drop out of high school each year, and that 85% of Canada’s welfare payments go to people who did not graduate from high school. “This is a huge economic cost,” says Bahen.

That is why Charity Intelligence looks for the root cause of the problem, researches charities, and then makes recommendations. “Is it better to donate to a university or to fund a PhD student? Why not donate your money to front-line charities that help kids graduate from high school?” Kate Bahen asks.

The process of making a donation is personal. Bahen agrees: “People base their decisions to give on emotions and on who knows who, rather than on the facts. We help clients wade through the maze of myths and make informed decisions about how to intelligently invest their money.”

Bahen continues: “Doing all the research and getting all the facts is a huge task; we are often going at it alone. Even so, we want to help people. And we will help people. And that feels great.”

Charity Intelligence is about to release its homelessness report for this year. The report will be available to the public at
www.charityintelligence.ca.

For those of you wanting to give effectively, donations can be made directly to Charity Intelligence who will flow them through to your choice of their Recommended Charities.

Aleksandra Hernandez is a contributing writer with Women's Post. Click here to read Aleks' blog.