“Although we have developed metrics and evidence to use in developing social policy and practice, we have not applied the same framework to philanthropy—but we should. Good intentions and generosity are not sufficient in practice and they ought not to be in philanthropy.”

Richard Gelles, Ph.D.
Dean of the School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania, Joanne and Raymond Welsh Chair of Child Welfare & Family Violence

Papers and Analyses

What is High Impact Philanthropy?

"The noblest question in the world is what good may I do in it?"- Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanac, 1737

High impact philanthropy means getting the most "good" for your philanthropic "buck." It is the process by which a philanthropist makes the biggest difference possible, given the amount of capital invested. This Concept Paper is intended as the beginning of a discourse on how to practice high impact philanthropy. It introduces cost per impact as the fundamental measure of any philanthropic investment. In order to assess cost per impact, philanthropists must
be able to assess, to the extent possible, its two components:

1. social impact, as measured by specific, objective criteria for success; and
2. cost, as measured by
   the investments made by philanthropists or other sources to realize the impact.

Assessment requires objective, reliable information on what's effective, what's not, and how much capital is required to achieve a given impact. The Center for High Impact Philanthropy aims to deliver the information and analytic tools required to answer these questions.

Click here to download the full paper.

If you would like to submit comments on this paper, please send them to impact@sp2.upenn.edu.