Philanthropedia
Philanthropedia, a division of GuideStar, is an crowdsourcing resource which provides information about high-impact nonprofit organizations.[1] The site features reviews from experts who are interviewed and surveyed.[2] The site also features rankings based on a combination of in-depth surveys and conversations with experts, including academics, funders, grant makers, policy makers and consultants.[3]
|  | |
| Founded | 2008 | 
|---|---|
| Founder | Erik Bengtsson, Howard Bornstein, Chris Herndon, Deyan Vitanov | 
| Type | Non-profit Organization | 
| Location | |
| Origins | San Mateo, CA | 
| Area served  | United States | 
| Key people | Erinn Andrews | 
| Website | http://myphilanthropedia.org | 
History
    
Philanthropedia was incubated at the Stanford Graduate School of Business starting in 2008 with the assistance of the Hewlett Foundation.[2] Initially, the start-up was called Nonprofit Knowledge Network (or NKN).[4] In 2008, NKN launched its first cause, recommending 8 top nonprofits working in the field of education at the national level.[5]
In 2009, NKN officially incorporated as an organization, rebranded as Philanthropedia, under the leadership of Deyan Vitanov as CEO and Erinn Andrews as COO.[2] Also in 2009, Philanthropedia released rounds of research on education, climate change, Bay Area homelessness[4] and international microfinance.[6]
In 2011, Philanthropedia was acquired by GuideStar and continues to run its core research now as a division of GuideStar.[2]
Philanthropedia's methods of ranking nonprofits based on crowdsourced information was criticized by some experts in the field of WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), including Marla Smith-Nilson, one of the founders of Water.org.[7]
As of 2022, Philanthropedia is no longer hosted.
References
    
- Cuberta, Phil. "Dam Busting to Get a Flood of Giving Now". 50 Shades of Grey in Philanthropy. Gift Hub. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- Rigoglioso, Marguerite. "Giving Just Got Easier: Philanthropedia Brings the Cream to the Top". Center for Social Innovation. Stanford Graduate School of Business. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- "Philanthropedia releases microfinance ranking". Philanthropy Management. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- Takagi, Gene. "Philanthropedia". Nonprofit Law Blog. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- Stannard-Stockton, Sean. "Philanthropedia". Tactical Philanthropy. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- "Unitus Endorsed as Top Nonprofit by Philanthropedia". Unitus Labs. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
-  Paulson, Tom (2014-08-13). "Water advocates sour on Philanthropedia's crowd-sourced rankings". Humanosphere. Retrieved 2021-09-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)