September 20, 2016

SOME DO-GOODERS DO GOOD:

Unlike Trump Foundation, Clinton Global Initiative Has Data to Prove Its Worth (iSSIE lAPOWSKY, 9/20/16, wIRED)


Though the former president (and potential future First Husband) didn't mention the election or Trump's criticisms of the Foundation, he did spend the first first few minutes of his opening address at the Initiative, rattling off a stunning list of statistics about the Clinton Global Initiative's impact. 3,600: That's how many public commitments the Initiative's attendees have made on stage over the last 12 years. 435 million: That's how many people those commitments have helped. 52 million: That's how many children have received access to education as a result of those commitments. 114 million: That's how many people can drink clean water because of the Initiative. The list goes on.

One of the Foundation's signature accomplishments, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, has provided low-cost AIDS medication to 11.5 million people since it launched in 2002.

"I believe it's helped change the face of philanthropy," President Clinton said of the Initiative.

He noted that in 2014, the Initiative partnered with the data-mining company Palantir, which was founded by noted Trump backer (and all around swell guy) Peter Thiel, to track progress on its first decade of commitments.

The study found that nearly 82 percent of the pledges made at CGI--which run the gamut from healthcare initiatives to education projects to data collection efforts--were either completed or underway. And of the ones that were completed, more than two-thirds had either hit or exceeded the number of people they set out to help. That may sound dry, but it's important, given how difficult it is for non-profit organizations to track the long tail of their impact.

Posted by at September 20, 2016 6:18 PM

  

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