Do They Still Need Our Money?
A wave of big-bet grants has left some funders asking whether recipient organizations still “need” their money. Kevin says that's always the wrong question. The right question is “can they create a lot of impact with our money?”.
Stanford Social Innovation Review (3 mins)
The Consulting Firm Billionaires Turn to When They Give Away Money
Bridgespan Group have become a major player in philanthropy, guiding the philanthropic choices of many leading donors, including MacKenzie Scott. This piece gives some good background on them.
New York Times (5 minutes)
New Additions to Mulago's Portfolio
We added 3 new organizations last Fall:
Medha embeds career coaching in low-resource public education institutions in India so that low-income youth get jobs they enjoy and that pay well.
Taleemabad (also known as the Orenda Project) improves learning outcomes with a bundle of digital tools that can be “layered on” to low-performing schools in Pakistan.
Urgewald disrupts the finance of dirty-industry by tracing the flow of money to fossil fuels and persuading financial institutions to stop investing in them.
Heffa Schücking Holds Banks Accountable for their Role in Climate Change
Heffa is the leader of Urgewald and she just won the Godman Environmental Prize, also known as the "Green Nobel Prize". Finance is a powerful tool in the fight against global warming. Heffa built Urgewald up small victory by small victory so that today it can take on the big financial institutions. As she says “What really matters is what happens in this decade. 2050 is far away. Greta will have grey hair and kids by then!”
Goldman Prize (4 minutes)
Mission to Scale Podcast
Kevin geeked out with Dan Berelowitz on replication and scale in this new podcast series from Spring Impact that reveals the tools, mindsets and strategies that organizations and funders need — to make the most impact. It's had some remarkable social impact leaders as guests so far including Anne-Marie Slaughter, Anne Mei Chang and Bart Houlahan.
Mission to Scale (30 minutes)
What’s the Latest Research in Development Economics?
Ok we admit we're David Evans addicts, even though it makes us feel guilty about our own meagre productictivity. These micro summaries of the latest economic research are a public good for the sector. 185 of them covering a wealth of methods and sectors!
Center for Global Development
A New Vision For Global Development At USAID
ICYMI Samantha Power promised some major changes at USAID last year. Most significant could be the pledge to provide a quarter of all funds directly to local partners within the course of the next four years. Good signs but the biggest global development firms often co-opt reforms like this by using local addresses to win "local" grants. Unlock Aid are trying to shine sunlight on the problem and are requesting proposals for more research into solutions.
The Road to Climate Recovery Goes Through the Wild Woods
World leaders have pledged again to end deforestation. The senior economist at Nia Tero - a non-profit which helps Indigenous groups protect and manage their territories - lays out why this time we really have to follow through on the commitment.
New York Times (3 minutes)
And Finally
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