Serious research

			Serious research This is going to take some time - a few hours, at least. Hard-core charity research is an area where ideally business theory, philosophy and commonsense meet (with a lot of argument over how to combine them). The ideal approach for most people

	>		Go through the Is it any good? quick-research process
	>		Visit the charity and see the work it does.
	>		Kick its tyres. Talk to, in ideal order of preference: beneficiaries, volunteers, staff, donors and trustees
	>		Volunteer there for a real inside view
			The analysts' approach Our favourite research organisation, whose methods have been developed by business analysts, is called New Philanthropy Capital (NPC). We feature its charity recommendations in our Experts' choices section. NPC is very open about what it does - you can download a document which explains its research framework, and pick and choose the bits you want to use. The methodology document "explores some of the challenges facing the charitable sector, with funding rarely connected to results, and results rarely measured. It also introduces the concept of a balanced portfolio – a group of charity recommendations that together address the needs identified by an NPC research report – both short- and long-term, tackling symptoms and causes, meeting individual needs and lobbying for change." It's a serious document - but if you're serious, you should read and use it. Download, after registering (for free) at www.philanthropycapital.org.

Intelligent Giving