The Importance of a Critical Voice

When I wrote my "Last Word on the Kiva Controversy," many people emailed or Tweeted at me sharing their thanks for trying to put a final stamp on the issue. One notable exception was one of the founders of GiveWell, who courteously emailed to let me know that he would be publicly and profoundly disagreeing with my assessment that it was "time to move on."

In the last year, I've become more and more convinced that GiveWell, and more over the type of critical voice that they represent, is one of the most vital voices for the growth and well-being of our sector.

The premise animating GiveWell - that intentions aren't enough and that we need higher performing social problem solving organizations - is a commonly held belief in the nonprofit sector. That said, the implications of that belief, namely that some organizations may not deserve our support, has made it somewhat difficult to embrace in practice.

While there have been organizations like Guidestar to review charities for years, and expert organizations like Mission Measurement that help organizations figure out how to improve their impact, GiveWell is important because of both its striving towards analytical rigor and because of its willingness to piss people off with its assessments.

Analytical rigor is sometimes tough. There are great debates about how to measure social impact, and even whether its possible or suitable. While I think that debate is a good one to have, I think its important that there are groups like GiveWell that are employing a ton of brainpower, creativity, and deep analysis to give their best shot at data-driven assessment.

Saying that organizations - particularly those with good intentions and lots of dedicated supporters - actually aren't helping as much as they wish they were or say they are is not a particularly easy role to occupy. While it hasn't always been easy to find the right voice to levy their critiques, at the end of the day, what matters more than how much people like GiveWell is their ability to stay objective.

This is not a ringing endorsement of all of GiveWell's assessments. I think that there are pretty significant limits to entirely data driven analysis, and just too much behavior, psychology and intangible impact to ever fully reduce to numbers.

It is, however, a ringing endorsement of the need for groups like GiveWell in this space. In the end they pose not an existential threat but are vital to the success of social change making programs in the long run.

(Photo: "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," by mrsraggle)