IMPACT ANALYSIS: CASE STUDY BIBLIONEF (NL)

Preface and acknowledgements

This paper was written as the final part of my bachelor International Economics and Business Economics at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Ever since I attended the European Conference for Strategic Philanthropy in November I became very interested in impact analysis and philanthropic institutions. For this reason, when my supervisor, Karen Maas, offered me to perform an impact analysis for the foundation Biblionef I immediately decided to do so. During this bachelor thesis I definitely learnt more about the foundation Biblionef and the significance of analyzing impact.

I would like to use this opportunity to thank my supervisor Karen Maas for her creative advice and guidance during my research. I am also grateful for all the guidance and data I received from the foundation Biblionef. The board members, volunteers and beneficiaries of Biblionef had very interesting thoughts and information to share. In particular, I want to thank Aagje van Heekeren and Inge de Jager for all their help.

Rotterdam, June 22, 2011

Lisanne Broekhuisen

Table of Contents

Chapter 1Introduction 4

Chapter 2What is Impact? .7

2.1 Impact7

2.1.1 Logic Model8

2.1.2 Can all institutions measure their impact?.........................................8

2.1.3 Contingency Framework..9

2.2 Optimal Impact10

2.2.1 Different Needs11

2.2.2 Resource Allocation..13

Chapter 3Biblionefs Impact...15

3.1 Methodology..15

3.1.2Determining Potential Results15

3.1.3Data Collection..21

3.2Defining and processing Biblionefs Impact..22

3.2.1Defining Impact23

3.2.2Process of creating Impact25

3.3Biblionefs Impact..28

3.3.1Category One..29

3.3.2Category Two.31

3.3.3Category Three..32

3.3.4Category Four.33

3.3.5Category Five.33

3.3.6 Concluding Remarks Biblionefs Impact..38

Chapter 4Necessary Factors for optimizing Biblionefs Impact.394.1Biblionefs Optimal Impact..39

4.1.1Language40

4.1.2Inherent Skills of Students and Teachers .40

4.1.3Guidance.41

4.1.4 Local Organization41

Chapter 5General Implications and Conclusions43

5.1. Impact Analysis Revisited........43

5.1.2 Biblionefs Impact 44

5.2.1 Limitations of Research.45

5.2.2Further Research45

5.3Final Conclusion.46

References..47

Appendix..49

Chapter 1 Introduction

The recent financial crisis has not only limited funds for philanthropic institutions but also trust; people have become increasingly cautionary and critical in giving donations or distributing funds. Many wonder what true impact philanthropic institutions have. On one hand, it is unfortunate that such a critical attitude has resulted in people and, most importantly, politicians to suggest that we should not give aid at all. Fortunately, many do not agree with this suggestion but they still remain critical of the effects of their funds. Many governments and donors have therefore become interested in measuring the impact of their funds. But most importantly, by analyzing their impacts, philanthropic institutions can also be far more efficient and effective at their missions.

This of course raises the question: what is exactly impact? Within this research beneficiaries and people active within philanthropic institutions are asked this question, and answers vary greatly. Even though impact analysis is still a relatively new research method there is sufficient information regarding how to both measure and define impact. Indeed, impact can be defined as the portion of the total outcome that happened as a result of the activity of an organization, above and beyond what would have happened anyway (Clark et al., cited in Maas 2009). This definition already incorporates an important issue: how to isolate the impact of a single philanthropic institution, when in most cases the impacts of various institutions are interdependent. Or, as this research will show, an optimum impact also requires various conditions to be in place.

Another key aspect of impact analysis is the emphasis on beneficiaries. Unlike traditional financial accounting techniques, impact analysis incorporates the beneficiaries point of view. For example, David Bonbright, the founder of Keystone, argues the importance of the constituents voice. Keystone focuses on obtaining feedback from both the beneficiaries and the donors of the philanthropic institution in order to analyze its impact. In other words, in analyzing impact, a philanthropic institution should really analyze its impact on the people it aims to serve: both donors and beneficiaries (Keystone, 2011). Even though this concept might seem straightforward, a complete impact analysis faces many difficulties. Impact analysis is not the same across the board; there are numerous philanthropic institutions with completely different types of beneficiaries. For example, the impact of a philanthropic institution focused on providing malaria bed nets, does not require the beneficiary to have certain skills. But this is not always the case. The research of Biblionef illustrates that as we shift aid from direct physiological needs to development we are faced with dilemmas when optimizing impact.

Generally, people are inclined to believe that aid should be aimed at countries or projects which face extreme poverty. For basic needs this might be true. However, not all types of aid should be aimed at countries and projects which need it the most. Instead, the research of Biblionefs impact shows that as aid ascends the Maslow pyramid, in order to optimize impact, aid could also be distributed based on skills available to use the resources rather than necessity. This of course results in many dilemmas and questions. For instance, is an optimal impact, a greater end result, or a greater change? Or is impact optimal if you help the largest number of people even though the impact is smaller per person? Finally, of course one wonders whether measuring impact will therefore result in other beneficiaries to be targeted in order to create an optimal impact.

This research, and especially the research for the foundation Biblionef, emphasizes the

significance of resource allocation in optimizing impact. Biblionef sends new children books and supports library products in disadvantaged areas. Biblionef has various headquarters in Europe; this research concerns the impact of Biblionef in the Netherlands (NL) and a few of the local Biblionefs set up by Biblionef NL in Aruba and Curaao. For the remainder of this research Biblionef NL will be referred to as Biblionef and the local Biblionef organizations will be distinguished by the countries they are located in. Yearly, the joint Biblionef organizations distribute five hundred thousand new children books over the whole world (Biblionef, 2011). Biblionef receives many requests for books, and therefore needs to be selective.

The main purpose of this study is to gain some insight in the implications of impact analysis, and in particular analyze the impact of Biblionef. The main research question of this study is: what should the allocation of resources of philanthropic institutions (aimed at higher fundamental needs) be based on in order to optimize impact? By answering this question we gain some insight in certain implications of optimizing but also measuring impact.

The main finding of this paper is that optimizing impact results in trade-offs between necessity and the ability to create the greatest impact. As institutions start to focus more on development instead of basic needs, an optimal impact will depend on certain conditions and skills to be in place. Thus, if philanthropic institutions want to optimize their impact, resources will not always be allocated to those who need the resources the most, but to those who are most effective at using the resources.

This paper first continues with explaining what impact is and providing a theoretic framework. Second, the focus will be on the impact of Biblionef and illustrate the methodology used. Fourth, the factors crucial to the impact of Biblionef are discussed leading to the question: How can Biblionef optimize its impact? Finally, conclusions and general implications are drawn.

Chapter 2 What is impact?

This section describes the theoretical framework related to determining and analyzing impact. Models used for impact analysis such as a logic model and a contingency framework are introduced. Finally, the term optimal impact is evaluated looking at Maslows hierarchy of needs and general resource allocation.

2.1 Impact

As mentioned earlier, there has been an increase in demand for impact analysis to complement traditional financial accounting methods. Recently, the Dutch scientific council for the government (Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Rijksoverheid- WRR) published its report Less pretention, more ambition discussing a necessary shift in perspective concerning aid. Within its report, the WRR argued the necessity of shifting the focus of aid towards development and self-reliance of countries instead of simply focusing on direct poverty reduction (WRR, 2010, p12). The WRR then continued to conclude that if aid is indeed focused on development instead of poverty reduction, impact analysis would be very important in evaluating the results of aid. According to the WRR, if improving living conditions is the goal, then it usually concerns output measurements; if development is the goal, then research needs to give insight into the impact and outcome (WRR, 2010, p215).

In order to real