News

New charity will match charities with free economics expertise

Finance | Tania Mason | 9 Dec 2008

Martin Brookes, chief executive of New Philanthropy Capital, is setting up a charity that will harness the skills of economists and deploy them to charities that want help to measure their impact.

The charity, to be called Pro Bono Economics, is being set up jointly with Andy Haldane, recently appointed as executive director of financial stability at the Bank of England.

Brookes (pictured), himself an economist too, said the pair were currently talking to employers such as the Bank of England and the Treasury in a bid to persuade them to support their staff to carry out projects for charities.

They are also in the process of applying for charitable status and setting up a website where charities can apply.

Two pilots ready to launch

Two charities have already agreed to run pilot projects with the new Pro Bono organisation: The Place2Be and The Brandon Centre.

Brookes added that it was as much about the economics profession "putting its own house in order" as it was about helping charities better demonstrate their impact. "The economics profession doesn't have the same track record of pro bono work for charities as, say, the laywers or management consultants or accountants.

"There are plenty of charities out there who have projects that could use the expertise of an economist but the costs are too prohibitive."

Economists could be useful in helping charities to measure their social return on investment, for example to develop a model for measuring the benefits of getting someone off drugs, Brookes said. This will help them demonstrate their value to funders and other stakeholders.

Application panel of professionals and charities

The plan is that charities will apply via the website, and each application will be vetted by a panel made up of representatives of both charities and the economics profession.

Pro Bono Economics will receive support from NPC in the initial stages but will be an independent charity. "The idea is almost that it is jointly owned by the economics profession and the world of charities, both will have a direct stake in it." Asked how many charities he aims to match up with economists in the first year, Brookes replied: "It's hard to say - five, ten, maybe many more."

Funders should support campaigning, says NPC report

Separately, NPC has today published a report encouraging donors to fund social campaigining by charities.

Critical masses claims the well-planned and executed campaigns can achieve fundamental and long-lasting impact, and thereby help charities towards achieving their aims.

The report contains several case studies of campaigns that have been deemed to be successful, including the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign run by the Special Education Consortium, and the London Living Wage Campaign by London Citizens.

Tweet

Who's Who: Tania Mason