Giving Well is Harder Than You Think

Givewell has received great coverage lately. (2 Young Hedge-Fund Veterans Stir Up the World of Philanthropy - New York Times and Doing Due Diligence on Your Donations-Wall Street Journal.)

We love that these guys are thinking about how to help individuals decide on how to spend their charitable and political dollars. It's clear that it is a problem to only look at the financials, or to simply look at qualitative data. Our position is that there is no one magical piece of information—just like there isn’t one in the stock market. If there were, we’d all be investing in the same four companies. Instead, we want to provide the necessary information that our customer needs to take an intelligent risk and make an impact in an issue or field they care about.

NPC "Political Mutual Funds" Launch

Check out our press release below:

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 19, 2007--Giving to political and charitable organizations no longer has to feel random, reactive, or confusing. Today, New Progressive Coalition, LLC (NPC), an online political giving advisor, introduces its first "Political Mutual Funds," which are unique and powerful portfolios of organizations that are working to address three pressing domestic challenges: energy independence and the environment, health care, and nonpartisan civic engagement and election-related issues.

NPC found that its customers were overloaded with donation requests and didn't know which organizations were effective or how to make strategic contributions. NPC researches, evaluates, and selects organizations for each of its funds so that its customers don't have to. With one click, the actively managed funds provide an easy way for citizens to harness their collective power and make a strategic impact without having to navigate the complex political and policy landscape.

"Individuals are searching for a way to make an impact that is more strategic than just responding to an email asking for money," said Kirstin Falk, CEO of NPC. "People want to see how their contributions translate into action and our 'Political Mutual Funds' do just that."

More than 120 organizations from across the country applied to be included in NPC's first three "Political Mutual Funds." NPC used its proprietary Political Return on Investment (PROI)™ methodology to analyze organizations and determine the success of their specific goals. The final holdings of each fund were then selected by NPC with guidance from leading issue-experts.

"During the current U.S. presidential election cycle alone, billions will be spent by the campaigns and countless independent organizations," said Andy Rappaport, a noted Silicon Valley venture capitalist and political donor and, with his wife Deborah, the major investor in NPC. "By providing a mechanism for every citizen to make informed decisions about where to make donations, to measure and track the effectiveness of these donations, and to be able to join with other contributors to have a real impact no matter what they can afford, NPC is contributing in a very real way to welcoming citizen participation back into the political and policy making process."

Progressive change requires investment. Remember what happened in the 1990s when the small investor got access to financial research and expertise? A whole new wave of individuals became investors. Just as companies like Charles Schwab provide investment research, analysis, and portfolio management, NPC provides the same services in the political and public policy arena. NPC's "Political Mutual Funds" are continuously managed. Depending on the performance of the first round of holdings, or to take advantage of opportunities that arise, organizations may be added or removed to improve the "political return" of the fund. Contributors will have access to "Impact Reports" in order to constantly monitor how their contributions are making an impact.

As of today, NPC is introducing the following "Political Mutual Funds":

The Energy Independence & Environment "Political Mutual Fund" invests in organizations that work to ensure a greener planet and an energy-independent country. Organizations in the fund include: Arizona League of Conservation Voters, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Energize America, Energy Action, Green Corps, Institute for America's Future, League of Conservation Voters, Rainforest Action Network, Science & Environmental Health Network, Vote Solar Initiative, and Western Organization of Resource Councils.

The Health Care "Political Mutual Fund" invests in organizations that are moving the United States towards an affordable and accessible health care system. Organizations in the fund include: America's Agenda Health Care Education Fund, Campaign for America's Future, Consumers for an Affordable Health Care Coalition, Herndon Alliance, Progressive States Network, Small Business Majority, Tennessee Justice Center & Tennessee Health Care Campaign Collaborative, and Universal Health Care Action Network.

The Victory in 2008 & Beyond "Political Mutual Fund" invests in organizations supporting progressive policies and infrastructure. The 501c(3)s listed engage exclusively in nonpartisan voter education and civic engagement activities. Other organizations support candidates and progressive policy change. Organizations in the fund include: 21stCentury Democrats, ActBlue, Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, Bus Project, Democracy: A Journal of Ideas, Democratic GAIN, Faithful Democrats, League of Young Voters, Mainstreet Moms (the MMOB), MAPLight.org, Media Consortium, Netroots Nation, ProgressiveU.org, Take Back Red California, Voter Action, Wellstone Action, Women's Campaign Forum, and Young People For.

About NPC
Using a financial services model, NPC acts as a political giving advisor by providing its customers with products and services to target their political and charitable time and money more effectively. Behind NPC's products and services is its proprietary Political Return on Investment (PROI)™ methodology. The PROI™ methodology helps individuals understand the impact of their investments while also promoting transparency and accountability among organizations.

More information about NPC is available at http://www.newprogressivecoalition.com/.

Political "Mutual Funds" Update: Is Money Guaranteed?

The phones at New Progressive Coalition have been ringing off the hook this past week. It's been great for the team here to see the eagerness and enthusiasm of organizations involved in the current phase of the Political "Mutual Funds" selection process.

We are currently in the second phase of the application process. This is where organizations collect and upload their information for a complimentary PROI™ analysis which is used by the Working Group to help select the final Political "Mutual Funds" "holdings." Beyond our original PROI™ beta testers, this is the first time we’ve gone through this process with such a large group.

While so far the process has been working very smoothly, we have heard one consistent question from applicants: Is funding guaranteed for the organizations included in the final product launch?

This is a valid concern for organizations who may not want to go through this time consuming process without being certain that it will be useful to them. Although we are not able to guarantee a specific amount of money, over the past year we have listened to our customers (and focus groups), and are confident that our product will solve donors’ needs. Also, the Working Group developed the PROI™ process so that the analysis will be useful to organizations regardless of whether there is a guaranteed pot of money at the end. We believe in this process and hope that organizations will participate in PROI™ to not only better their visions and operations, but to also help us change current progressive giving patterns.

We enjoy receiving all of these calls and emails. Our products and services evolve based on feedback from our network because we believe that staying aligned with our community is absolutely critical to our success. Let us know if you have any more suggestions or insights.

Measure Your Impact with PROI™

Our customers told us that they are overwhelmed and overloaded by information and requests for contributions, and that they can't easily find organizations doing effective work on issues they care about most. So they don’t give.

Individuals easily understand the return on their contributions to candidates and electoral organizations because there is a winner and a loser in elections. It has been difficult, though, for individuals to understand the "value" of their contributions to progressive organizations like think tanks, leadership institutions, or advocacy organizations.

In response, New Progressive Coalition partnered with SVT Group and we have spent the past year developing our proprietary Political Return on Investment (PROI)™ methodology so that individuals can understand the impact of their progressive giving. In other words, PROI™ helps make visible to donors the currently invisible work of organizations. Our PROI™ methodology was specifically designed to help individuals improve their political investment choices and promote accountability among political organizations. Our PROI™ methodology also encourages political innovation by making individuals comfortable with taking risks on new leaders and ideas.

The PROI™ methodology quantifies data submitted by organizations across the sectors that make up a political movement, an approach aimed at breaking down traditional issue silos. The metrics and indicators developed for the PROI™ methodology were evaluated and rigorously tested by a group of leading political investors and organizations and over 600 hours were spent creating PROI™ and eliciting feedback from around the country.

Our PROI™ takes into account the best of traditional Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis, and improves on it by simplifying the reporting requirements. Organizations are able to easily complete the PROI™ process and donors are able to digest the analysis.

Unlike traditional SROI, however, the PROI™ of an organization is determined based on an organization’s specific goals and strategies, and not against any subjective political values. In other words, the methodology helps people find organizations creating the political change they are seeking, regardless of what that change may be.

NPC is currently using PROI™ as the methodology behind our flagship product: Political Mutual Funds. More to come on these funds later this week ...

Progressive Investor: A New Type of Leader

At New Progressive Coalition, we are continually asked, "what do you mean by 'progressive investor'?"

Progressive "investors" are proactive about their contributions and give to make an impact. “Investors” are strategic with their resources because they perform due diligence, make calculated risks, and demand accountability and transparency. “Investors” look beyond the next election and strive to build long-term relationships with progressive organizations because they are committed to making a difference. Most importantly, “investors" are forward thinking and seek out innovation because they know it is critical to solving our political challenges.

Here in the Bay Area, we get to witness a lot of groundbreaking innovation that wouldn’t happen without investors taking risks on bold new ideas by little known entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen enough in politics. Instead, progressive contributions rise and fall with election cycles and when the polls close, so do people's pocketbooks. Political change is stifled because of the scarcity and cyclical nature of funding patterns.

We need innovation to move forward, to progress, and this can't happen until there is a generation of investors willing to take risks. At NPC, we are seeking people who want to be progressive investors, leaders looking to use innovation to advance the status quo and create political change.