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What is TakeAction@GuideStar?
TakeAction@GuideStar is an initiative that gathers expert information and recommendations on several causes to help donors identify which nonprofits are working most effectively on those causes.
Why did you create TakeAction@GuideStar?
For several reasons:
Why do the TakeAction pages have "Beta" on them?
Beta means that the pages are ready to be used but may not be in their final form. Users' feedback will guide the future development of these pages.
How can I give you my feedback?
Click the [+] link on the lower portion of any page and complete the feedback form. By the way, the feedback link appears on every page of our site. We welcome your comments about your experience elsewhere on GuideStar—good, bad, indifferent, we want to know what you think.
Who are the experts?
Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy, GiveWell, GreatNonprofits, Innovations for Poverty Action, Philanthropedia, and Root Cause.
What is the Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy?
The Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that seeks to increase government effectiveness through the use of rigorous evidence about "what works." The Coalition administers an expert review process to identify social programs meeting the Congressional "Top Tier" evidence standard: "well-designed randomized controlled trials [showing] sizeable, sustained effects on important ... outcomes" (e.g., Public Laws 110-161 and 111-8). The initiative has been reviewed favorably by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and has had an important impact on federal legislation and policy.
What is GiveWell?
GiveWell is an independent nonprofit charity evaluator whose mission is to find outstanding charities and publish the full details of their analysis to help donors decide where to give. Unlike existing evaluators, which focus solely on financials, GiveWell focuses on how well programs actually work—i.e., their effects on the people they serve.
What is GreatNonprofits?
GreatNonprofits is a Web site where people who have firsthand knowledge of a charity—board members, volunteers, donors, recipients of services—can tell others about their experiences with the organization. Reviews can be written on both GreatNonprofits and GuideStar; the reviews appear on both sites.
What is Innovations for Poverty Action?
Innovations for Poverty Action is a nonprofit dedicated to discovering what works to help the world’s poor. We design and evaluate programs in real contexts with real people, and provide hands-on assistance to bring successful programs to scale. Our Proven Impact Initiative is dedicated to ensuring that charitable giving is increasingly focused on those ideas that have been proven to work through rigorous evaluation in the real world.
What is Philanthropedia?
Philanthropedia surveys large numbers of social cause experts in order to identify which nonprofits are having the most impact. By collecting the vast knowledge of foundation professionals, researchers, nonprofit senior staff, and others, Philanthropedia gives donors access to previously private information about nonprofit effectiveness.
What is Root Cause?
Root Cause is a nonprofit research and consulting firm that partners with nonprofits, philanthropy, government, and business to advance solutions to today's toughest social issues. The Social Impact Research department, modeled after private sector equity research firms, analyzes and distributes actionable information on social issues and recommends high-performing nonprofits to help donors make informed philanthropic decisions.
How did you pick the causes?
The causes were identified by GiveWell, Philanthropedia, and Root Cause. You can find more information in their FAQs.
View the Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy’s MethodologyView GiveWell's FAQsView Innovations for Poverty Action's FAQsView Philanthropedia's FAQsView Root Cause's methodology
The cause I'm interested in isn't included in TakeAction@GuideStar. How can I suggest adding it?
There are a couple of things you can do:
I'm with a nonprofit whose mission is related to one or more of the causes. Can I get my organization added to the recommendations list(s)?
Not directly, but there are a couple of things you can do to increase the chances that your cause will be added to TakeAction@GuideStar and that your organization will have more visibility in it:
Where can I contact the Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy, GiveWell, GreatNonprofits, Philanthropedia, and Root Cause?