The mission of Charity Intelligence is to enable funders to make informed and effective giving decisions that reward charities for results. We do this through researching and analyzing charities. Our research hinges on quantitatively analysing charities through using consistent measures. As Graham and Dodd wrote the standards of financial analysis for profit companies, so we endeavour to develop meaningful investment tools for funders to analyze charities. We acknowledge that our charity research leverages the innovative work of The Donner Canadian Foundation and The Fraser Institute, to whom we owe great gratitude.
New investment measures leapt out of the 2006 management interviews we conducted on the Donner Awards applicants.These issues were:
1. Adjusting financial statements to include the value of volunteers and donated goods
2. Volunteer turnover rates as a potential measure of effectiveness
3. Ownership measures.
Each of these analysis topics will be presented in detail in a future web site section (Analysis Tools).We will test these emerging yardsticks in ongoing research, and always welcome your feedback in developing new measures.