Philanthropedia
 | This article contains promotional content. (March 2013) |
 | |
| Founded | 2008 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Erik Bengtsson, Howard Bornstein, Chris Herndon, Deyan Vitanov |
| Type | Non-profit Organization |
| Location | |
| Origins | San Mateo, CA |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Erinn Andrews |
| Website | http://myphilanthropedia.org |
Philanthropedia, a division of GuideStar, was a crowdsourcing resource which provides information about high-impact nonprofit organizations.[1] The site featured reviews from experts who are interviewed and surveyed.[2] The site also featured rankings based on a combination of in-depth surveys and conversations with experts, including academics, funders, grant makers, policy makers and consultants.[3]
History
Philanthropedia was incubated at the Stanford Graduate School of Business starting in 2008 with the assistance of the Hewlett Foundation.[2] Initially, the start-up was called Nonprofit Knowledge Network (or NKN).[4] In 2008, NKN launched its first cause, recommending 8 top nonprofits working in the field of education at the national level.[5]
In 2009, NKN officially incorporated as an organization, rebranded as Philanthropedia, under the leadership of Deyan Vitanov as CEO and Erinn Andrews as COO.[2] Also in 2009, Philanthropedia released rounds of research on education, climate change, Bay Area homelessness[4] and international microfinance.[6]
In 2011, Philanthropedia was acquired by GuideStar and continues to run its core research now as a division of GuideStar.[2]
Philanthropedia's methods of ranking nonprofits based on crowdsourced information was criticized by some experts in the field of WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), including Marla Smith-Nilson, one of the founders of Water.org.[7]
As of 2022, Philanthropedia is no longer hosted.
References
- ^ Cuberta, Phil. "Dam Busting to Get a Flood of Giving Now". 50 Shades of Grey in Philanthropy. Gift Hub. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- ^ a b c d Rigoglioso, Marguerite. "Giving Just Got Easier: Philanthropedia Brings the Cream to the Top". Center for Social Innovation. Stanford Graduate School of Business. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- ^ "Philanthropedia releases microfinance ranking". Philanthropy Management. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- ^ a b Takagi, Gene. "Philanthropedia". Nonprofit Law Blog. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- ^ Stannard-Stockton, Sean. "Philanthropedia". Tactical Philanthropy. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- ^ "Unitus Endorsed as Top Nonprofit by Philanthropedia". Unitus Labs. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- ^ Paulson, Tom (2014-08-13). "Water advocates sour on Philanthropedia's crowd-sourced rankings". Humanosphere. Retrieved 2021-09-15.