Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I donate directly to the Center?
Yes. You can make a gift to the Center for High Impact Philanthropy online by visiting “Making History, The Campaign for Penn.” This secure payment site can be found here: https://medley.isc-seo.upenn.edu/giving/jsp/fast.do. There are 3 steps to the process:
1. Select Gift. You will be asked to “choose a general area.” Select “Schools.” Then, you will be asked to “select a program.” Select “School of Social Policy & Practice.” Finally, you will be asked to “choose a specific fund.” Select “Center for High Impact Philanthropy Fund.” Once you have chosen where to donate, follow the instructions for selecting the type of payment and the amount.
2. Personal Information. You will then be asked to fill in required information such as your name, address, phone, and email, as well as other optional information.
3. Payment. The last step is providing your payment information.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Center at 215.573.7266.
- How is the Center different from Charity Navigator, Givewell or Guidestar?
Charity Navigator, Givewell and Guidestar are all examples of organizations that rate and rank nonprofits. The Center is different because our unit of analysis is the model, not the organization. Additionally, we do not do rankings, nor do we rely on inputs such as overhead ratios to access how well a model or an organization is performing. Our goal is to be both evidence based and actionable, while maintaining our focus on impact. Read more about our approach here: http://www.impact.upenn.edu/about/ourapproach/
- What is the Center’s relationship to Penn?
The Center is housed in Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2). The Center does not raise money for Penn or its programs, nor is its focus in any way limited to the University of Pennsylvania, its faculty, or alumni. However, because of this relationship with Penn, the Center has access to Penn’s invaluable resources such as libraries, world-renowned professors conducting cutting edge academic research, and smart and passionate students who work with us as research assistants.
- Who is your customer/audience?
Our primary customer/audience is the donor. Our work is targeted at high net worth individuals (and their advisors) who are concerned with social impact.