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Vast and largely unexamined, the world of American charities accounts for fully 10 percent of economic activity in this country, yet operates with little accountability, no real barriers to entry, and a stunning lack of evidence of effectiveness. In With Charity for All, Ken Stern reveals a problem hidden in plain sight and prescribes a whole new way for Americans to make a difference.

Each year, two thirds of American households donate to charities, with charitable revenues exceeding one trillion dollars. Yet while the mutual fund industry employs more than 150,000 people to rate and evaluate for-profit companies, nothing remotely comparable exists to monitor the nonprofit world. Instead, each individual is on his or her own, writing checks for a cause and going on faith. Ken Stern, former head of NPR and a long-time nonprofit executive, set out to investigate the vast world of U.S. charities and discovered a sector hobbled by deep structural flaws. Unlike private corporations that respond to market signals and go out of business when they fail, nonprofit organizations have a very low barrier to entry (the IRS approves 99.5 percent of applications) and once established rarely die. From water charities aimed at improving life in Africa to drug education programs run by police officers in thousands of U.S. schools, and including American charitable icons such as the Red Cross, Stern tells devastating stories of organizations that raise and spend millions of dollars without ever cracking the problems they set out to solve.
   But he also discovered some good news: a growing movement toward accountability and effectiveness in the nonprofit world. With Charity for All is compulsively readable, driven in its early pages by the plight of millions of Americans donating to good causes to no good end, and in its last chapters by an inspiring prescription for individual giving and widespread reform.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00957T6NQ
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Anchor (February 26, 2013)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 26, 2013
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3467 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
Reviewer: Maria del Sol
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Measure and disseminate the results!
Review: Excellent vantage point on how it is possible to give wisely, demand results (no matter what those results are) and disseminate that information for better utilization of future funding dollars, with measurable results. Building stronger nonprofits - that succeed - work for the betterment of all of us, our society in general, and reduce societal problems. Good reading, important resource, recommended for anyone interested in non-profits and positive change.

Reviewer: Mec
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A good start
Review: Stern served on the board of a large non-profit organization so he has plenty of (successful) first-hand experience in this area. Right there, that makes his book worth my attention.On the good side: Stern makes many cogent points:The true customers of a charity are the donors, not the beneficiaries. Charities will do whatever impresses donors. Research shows that most donors do very little research; therefore, many charities focus on beautiful stories ("help this person in the photo!") rather than actual measured results ("we spent $X million dollars per year, and 5 years later, Y thousand people were vaccinated / had high school degrees / had clean running water in their homes / had visited our clinic"). There is a very clear message to donors here: you're the customer; it's up to you to figure out what you want and then direct your money accordingly.There are very few -- perhaps just one -- organization in the world that credibly evaluates the performance of charities. That's givewell.org . If nothing else, check the charities that you know on givewell. You'll be surprised.The Gates Foundation also does this kind of evaluation for its own use but does not publish reports for others.Donors should think carefully about what they want and think carefully about how to tell if they are getting it.One traditional measure of charitable effectiveness is %age spent on program services. To be sure, a charity that spends 20% of its revenues on program services and 80% on paying its own executives and other overhead is likely to be an ineffective charity, so this measure helps weed out a few bad charities. However, the difference between a charity that spends 75% on program services and another charity that spends 95% on program services isn't going to be visible by looking at those two numbers. It's likely that the second charity is not spending *enough* on institutional development. How much is enough? It's not a percentage, it goes back to measuring outcomes -- whatever produces the best outcome.On the down side:Stern starts the book with a warning about using anecdotes as a way of making judgements, but then fills most of the rest of the book with anecdotes. And they all line up nicely, too. When Stern introduces an executive as friendly, personable, and exuding "boyish charm" -- that turns out to be a good charity. When Stern doesn't say anything about the personal attributes of executives -- that turns out to be a bad charity. Similarly, there's a bias against certain charitable areas (sports, high art) and in favor of others (social service). How about an effective sports charity or an ineffective youth service charity for a change?Stern chastizes donors for being unfamiliar with the tools available, but then (a bit smugly) assumes that all his readers are familiar. This book could use an appendix of resources: how to look up the Form 990 of a charity. How to read the Form 990 of a charity. The address of Givewell. The address of any other services which publish comparable information.

Reviewer: Joseph McManus
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Extensive and thoughtful
Review: the author goes to great lengths in accumulating and presenting a massive amount of data in support of his central thesis. The chapters and arguments are laid out in a logical fashion and the book is very interesting to read and engaging. Although I disagreed with the author's conclusions on a lot of points, I still agreed with many of the issues that he brought attention to and am glad that he did.

Reviewer: Rosalyn Hurley
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Helpful overall.
Review: I expected a little more information to help guide decisions about which charities to support. It is a good overview of the world of charities that are designed to help people in various ways. It doesn't deal with the arts--museums, symphonies, etc. and that was a bit of a disappointment. I was glad to read a discussion about the expenses involved in administering charitable work and the fact that the most effective programs are run by professionals instead of "do gooders".

Reviewer: Rennyrij
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Wake-up call, for well-meaning donors.
Review: I haven't even finished the book, but already I am shocked at how easy it is to become a "cause" or "charity", with the 501(C)3 (tax-exempt) rating. This is something everyone needs to know, before shelling out their dollars or dimes. Within the last week I saw a televised review of the book, with the head of Charity Navigator agreeing with Ken Stern; they both indicated that they are now working on the same issue - Results Driven rather than Donor Driven considerations, and also, as with so many other issues, TRANSPARENCY - of who, and what, and where, and why, and how, and how $much, and for how long? This is important stuff!

Reviewer: richard Lacasse
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Very usefull for my Research Paper on the Dark Side of Philanthropy.The data stole the «show» at the Biarritz Confrence in October 2014Prof Richard-Marc Lacasse PhDUQAR

Reviewer: Lorenz Lauer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Bestandsaufnahme der Probleme des karitativen Sektors: Spender geben meistens ohne nach zu fragen. Einige NGOs kommen deshalb mit einer "mehr Schein als Sein"-Politik durch.

Reviewer: KatieB
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Good introductory book that some say transformed their giving. Love Stern’s call to action that we all need to think about our giving as an investment. Charities must be more transparent, more accountable, and publish data and results.