GuideStar has acquired two new organization, Philanthropedia and Social Actions, and, in the process, a new office on the US west coast.
Philanthropedia, an online listing and giving platform, canvasses the views of experts in the non-profit field on effective non-profit organizations in various cause areas. The site then lists causes under various headings such as microfinance, climate change and childhood education and grades them according to the number of expert recommendations. Donors can review these and donate to them through the site.
To date, Philanthropedia has covered 15 causes and has drawn on the views of 1,400 experts to evaluate 1,700 non-profits in 15 different cause areas. Out of all this it has produced a 200-strong list of non-profit recommendations. Much of its expertise is in the US and specifically in the Bay area of San Francisco. In parenthesis, GuideStar’s US west coast team will move into Philanthropedia’s offices.
Social Actions is an aggregator of peer-to-peer giving opportunities and other ‘actionable resources’ from dozens of online philanthropic platforms. It has pioneered and continues to oversee the development of an open database that supports what it describes as ‘a thriving ecosystem of innovative web applications and widgets, connecting donors and volunteers with unique opportunities to make a difference’.
Both organizations are enthusiastic about the move. Becoming part of GuideStar will give them access to a wider audience and catchment area of projects and resources. As Philanthropedia’s blog puts its, ‘GuideStar’s acquisition will keep Philanthropedia’s team intact and enable us to scale our research further, re-run past causes, and explore new ways to collect expert reviews of high-impact nonprofits’. On GuideStar’s part, the acquisition gives them a new stash of data on the sector to add to their own and extends their research capacities.
The Social Actions acquisition will be complete later this month, and the Philanthropedia acquisition is scheduled for completion by mid-April.
For more information
http://www.myphilanthropedia.org
www2.guidestar.org/rxa/news/news-releases/2011/guidestar-to-acquire-philanthropedia-and-social-actions.aspx
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