Quantifiable References on Social Impact Infrastructure Organizations
Introduction
While social impact infrastructure organizations (SIIOs) work to accelerate the impact of the philanthropy, nonprofit, and civil society sectors, we know of no summary that provides a detailed quantitative summary of their accomplishments. While the data below is far from comprehensive, it will hopefully give readers a greater appreciation for the considerable monetary contributions a small portion of SIIOs have made to improve social conditions.
Some SIIOs expand the pie of regenerative resources available to us now and moving forward. For example, consider those focused on capturing some portion of the unprecedented wealth transfer of trillions of dollars that will take place by the end of the decade. Then consider the value of those listed below that significantly increase global giving and the mobilization of extensive human resources directed to positively affecting social impact.
High-level Quantifiable Outcomes from Social Impact Infrastructure Organizations
- The Giving Pledge collected more than 230 billionaires’ pledges to give away most of their wealth in their lifetimes or in their Wills. Pledges are estimated to total US $600 billion.
- The National Council on Nonprofits has secured $50 billion
- from Congress in forgivable PPP loans for nonprofits and helped more than 100,000 organizations access these loans.
- GoFundMe has raised more than $15 billion since its inception.
- TechSoup facilitated the delivery of more than $15 billion in free or discounted technical products, services, and education to hundreds of thousands of nonprofits in 236 countries.
- The GivingTuesday campaign raised $2.47 billion in 2020, 7 billion in 2021, and 3.1 billionin 2022 in the U.S. alone, totaling $8.27 billion. The average annual growth over three years exceeded $300 million. (However, results in 2023 also hovered at 3.1 billion, bringing the total results to $11.37 billion and a lesser yearly average of $210 million per year.)
- Founders Pledge has accumulated approximately $9.32 billion in pledges.
- Philanthropy Together and Grapevine are central actors in creating giving circles that have given away $1.29 billion.
- Generation Pledge has accumulated $800 million in pledges.
- Points of Light recruits volunteers whose efforts are valued at $482 million annually.
- Taproot Foundation has provided 19,000 nonprofits with a $300,000,000 value of pro-bono services.
- The United Philanthropy Forum leveraged $250 million in government and philanthropic investment in the 2010 census that could be attributed directly to the work of our initiative.
- VolunteerMatch has recruited 17.5 million volunteers.
Conclusion
We acknowledge that numbers do not paint full pictures. For example, many might question the flow of “philanthropic wealth,” how much the public would have donated without the intermediaries listed above, and what percentage of pledged money will be collected. However, we trust that some will agree that the statistics provided here – which only represent a small percentage of regenerative resources provided by SIIOs – are nonetheless extensive and deserve a deeper investigation.
It is critical to underscore that the statistics presented capture only a fraction of the contributions SIIOs make. Much of their impact, especially the indirect benefits, remains challenging to quantify. For example, we know that countless grantmakers and nonprofits use Candid, which unquestionably unlocks a significant pool of charitable capital. But we do not know how much. Similarly, platforms like Charity Navigator, Giving Compass, and GiveWell build public trust, but we can’t quantify the specific benefits trust-building produces. We understand that the National Council on Foundations, the National Council of Nonprofits, and others protect us from the enactment of harmful legislation and help create enabling environments for the social sector. But again, the extent of their contributions remains challenging to quantify. The same holds for countless research hours followed by publications by esteemed journals, including the Social Science Innovation Review, Chronicles of Philanthropy, the Nonprofit Times, and others. We know that conditions would be considerably different without research and publications, but how so is subject to debate.
Regardless of challenges specific to accurately measuring results, we hope this paper will increase the dialogue on how to expand the pie so many more of us have the resources needed to improve social and environmental conditions. We hope to inspire more conversations and actions leading to increasing global giving and human resources and capturing the unprecedented transfer of wealth expected to take place by the end of the decade. We also suggest that with strategic thinking and collective action, we can allocate a considerable portion of these resources ethically, equitably, and effectively.