GuideStar’s New Strategy

This is a guest post by Bob Ottenhoff, CEO of GuideStar. GuideStar recently announced they have acquired innovative startups Social Actions and Philanthropedia. We asked Bob to share the strategic rationale behind these deals.

By: Bob Ottenhoff

Over the years, GuideStar has taken on the monumental task of providing transparency into the nonprofit sector, with care to maintain a sense of neutrality, providing tools and data users can access to guide their decisions.

Now, we come to yet another crossroads in our history. Late last year we adopted a new strategic plan with an ambitious long term vision that embraces a world where:

·      Information that supports quality decision-making flows through the sector at low cost for providers and users,

·      Nonprofits know their performance, have tools to improve their performance, and are able to share their data freely and widely with donors at low cost,

·      Donors are positioned to target their giving to the organizations that best fit their giving preferences – impact or passion-driven,

·      Best fit nonprofits benefit from easier assessment of performance with higher donations from purposeful donors,

·      The marketplace shifts toward purposeful giving (vs. responsive), and the cost of fundraising and grantmaking decline.

Read the full article.