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Driving RoI for charitable work: How NGOs are maximizing impact
by Raagini Sarkar
All charitable efforts stem from good intentions. While the noble spirit behind charity is
commendable, the effectiveness with which it is delivered is the single most important criterion when
evaluating success. The impact is what really counts. Charities often stay in business because donors do
not demand solid evidence of the impact of their programmes. This needs to change.
In light of the numerous humanitarian crises that have taken place in the last decade, the urgency
to find the most effective way to measure social impact has become increasingly important. In order for
the international community to expand charitable efforts beyond mere good intentions, non-governmental
and charitable organizations must use substantial evidence to prove the extent of their impact and
effectiveness. This is why a new paradigm of evidence-based programming is gaining rapid ground.
What is evidence-based programming?
Evidence-based programming allows for organizations to determine which strategies guarantee
them the most impact given the funding they have. This means that all evidence-based humanitarian
intervention programs rely upon the idea of using evidence as a basis to make crucial decisions regarding
aspects of the intervention. The use of evidence when crafting programs promotes the use of strategies
and practices that have been proven to demonstrate results.
Let us look at one simple example that relates to diarrhea, a major cause of child death in the
African continent. The Poverty Action Lab of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology looked into three
distinct techniques that were used in Kenya to prevent diarrhea. One was providing chlorine to people at
water pumps; the second was to provide chlorine to individuals who could then add it to their water
shortly after collection; the third was providing chlorine to peoples homes. What MIT discovered was
that providing chlorine at the water source was twice as effective as any other technique in preventing
cases of diarrhea for a given amount of funding. What this means is that funding the wrong programme
without examining evidence could dilute impact by as much as 50%.
Dubai Cares: maximizing impact in education programmes
In recent years, more and more non-governmental organizations across the globe are trying to
achieve the necessary standards of establishing evidence-based programs. One pioneer in this effort has
been Dubai Cares, an international UAE-based organization that is working towards providing primary
education to children in developing countries. Their programmes aim to be integrated, impactful,
sustainable and scalable, focusing on the long term, typically lasting 3 to 5 years.
Since its establishment in 2008, Dubai Cares has successfully implemented educational
intervention programmes in 41 developing countries, reaching more than 14 million beneficiaries. Their
commitment to evidence-based practice is supported through budgetary allocations, allowing for each
program to be oriented around measuring impact. As much as 65% of Dubai Cares portfolio aims to
enhance active programmes that are cost effective, and build on existing evidence base. The other 35% of
their portfolio supports new programmes that test alternative models and hypotheses in order to contribute
to the global body of knowledge. Says Tariq Al Gurg, CEO of Dubai Cares: We use data to show what
works, what doesnt and what were missing.
Doing the most good

The primary argument against evidence-based practice is the substantial costs involved. It is an
undeniable fact that evidence based programmes are significantly more expensive than regular
programmes due to the comprehensive process of planning, implementation and evaluation. Many could
argue that the financial and human resources that evidence-based programmes require could be put to
better use in directly aiding beneficiaries.
What must be recognized, however, is that evidence-based programming works towards
generating new evidence that can be applied to make humanitarian development programmes more
effective in the future. This will ultimately allow for the maximum amount of beneficiaries to receive the
maximum amount of aid and support during humanitarian crises. Therefore, the funding that is put into
evidence-based programmes has to be considered a long-term investment that provides significant
benefits in the future.
Around the world, philanthropic organizations must improve the way in which they plan,
implement and evaluate their programmes to guarantee impact, effectiveness and sustainability. This is
what Professor Peter Singer of Princeton University calls doing the most good. Donors must also
recognize the extent to which organizations can prove their efficacy. As such, evidence based
programming is here to stay. After all, both smart donors and responsible organizations know that good
intentions are not enough.
Raagini Sarkar is a Grade 12 student at Dubai American Academy and interned with
Dubai Cares in the summer of 2016

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Driving RoI for charitable work: How NGOs are maximizing impact

Doing the most good

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