The Robin Hood Rules for Smart Giving (Columbia Business School Publishing)

The Robin Hood Foundation is a charitable organization focused on alleviating problems caused by poverty in New York City. Michael M. Weinstein is the Foundation’s senior vice president, and Ralph M. Bradburd was a long-time consultant. Together, they worked to develop a metric-based approach called “relentless monetization,” which made sure the money they took in and granted out was used effectively and resulted in long-term change.

In this book, Weinstein and Bradburd describe their method, explaining how to measure, track, and present a project so as to realize its full potential. They share examples from the Foundation’s own experience with relentless monetization, opening the books on the obscure dynamics of a large grant-giving organization. The authors also show other nonprofit organizations how to implement their approach within their own fundraising and grant-giving strategies, and they discuss the best way to guarantee success in a variety of philanthropic endeavors. Drawing on their vast knowledge, the authors devote specific chapters to the difference between beneficial and detrimental philanthropic practices and their outcomes and provide targeted advice for funding “smart” nonprofit programs.