July 13, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
A recent Forbes magazine article took some shots at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s work in India, but New Philanthropy Capital, a nonprofit research group in London, has come to the foundation’s defense.
On its blog, Simon Blake, the organization’s head of international research, says Forbes points out several common philanthropic mistakes Gates may have made. For example, big foundations need to have some “cultural sensitivity” when working abroad.
But Mr. Blake says overall the article displays an “underlying suspicion” about charitable efforts that are analytical, have deep pockets, and employ people from outside the nonprofit world.
“I don’t know the rights and wrongs” of the Gates program, he writes. “But I do know that the kind of approach pioneered by the Gates foundation has brought a welcome rigor to the activities of the NGOs it supports.”
He continues: “One notable irony is that the article uses Gates’ own evaluations to criticize its programs. But this transparency is precisely the organization’s best defense: in general, funders and NGOs in India don’t measure and don’t publish this kind of data. For that at least, foundations like Gates deserve our gratitude.”
What do you think? Did the Forbes article fall short in its criticism of Gates?
