Moneyballing Philanthropy
Moneyball. It is everywhere. Beyond all the movie reviews, it seems like everyone, is looking reaching for a way to tie in the book/movie into their thoughts and “moneyballing” has made its way to philanthropy. Yes I said “moneyballing”, a term I just made up for when people apply the Moneyball principle, basically using data and objective information to guide strategy in a normally data-less and subjective world. I actually really like the “moneyballing” Paul Connolly does in a recent post on SSIR titled “What Can Philanthropy Learn from Moneyball”.It should also be noted, that as a marginal collegiate baseball player with no great skills but a decent On Base Percentage (more on that below) I am a bit partial to the Moneyball theory (and bitter it didn’t take off more while I was still in college!). Anyways, here’s my highlights from the article and, as always, I’d encourage you to read the article in its entirety here:
- Connolly draws the comparison between baseball executives using On Base Percentage instead of the usual Batting Average to find a productive player at a good value (ROI) and philanthropists using Programmatic Outcomes as opposed to the usual Administrative Ratios
- NOTE: shifting the focus on effectiveness of nonprofit organizations AWAY from administrative ratios was, foundationally, the reason for this whole blog! Check out one of the first posts “What’s the Percentage of Crap You Are Being Fed”
- He also mentions how the pendulum cannot swing TOO far as, in baseball, things like team chemistry, conditioning and leadership are note as “measurable” but are of utmost importance (my recent post on Communicopia and their focus on building strong digital teams is an example of this for nonprofits)
- This quote from Jennifer Buffet
“In a field that works to build and support human capacities and change entire systems, it is not a good idea to fall into the trap of relying exclusively on metrics or a technocratic approach,” she comments. “We work in a very thoughtful way to equalize power relationships, build expertise on the ground, and listen and nurture…balancing and considering the head and the heart. That doesn’t mean we are not interested in sound structures, evaluation, and solid results. But, again, to us, solutions should always have a human being, a human voice, at the center.”
All in all, I think the “moneyballing” is a good parallel for the charity world and something we should keep in mind as we look at how we operate, raise funds for and give to charities.
