Founded 2008 Area served United States | Origins San Mateo, CA | |
Founder Erik Bengtsson, Howard Bornstein, Chris Herndon, Deyan Vitanov Type Non-profit Organization Location San Mateo, CA & Washington, D.C. | ||
Philanthropedia, a division of GuideStar, is an expert crowdsourcing resource for funders and others to learn about high-impact nonprofit organizations. The site features more than 11,000 reviews from 1,400 experts who are interviewed and surveyed. 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.
History
Philanthropedia was incubated at the Stanford Graduate School of Business starting in 2008 with the assistance of the Hewlett Foundation. Initially, the start-up was called Nonprofit Knowledge Network (or NKN). In 2008, NKN launched its first cause, recommending 8 top nonprofits working in the field of education at the national level.
In 2009, NKN officially incorporated as an organization, rebranded as Philanthropedia, under the leadership of Deyan Vitanov as CEO and Erinn Andrews as COO. Also in 2009, Philanthropedia released rounds of research on education, climate change, Bay Area homelessness and international microfinance.
In 2011, Philanthropedia was acquired by GuideStar and continues to run its core research now as a division of GuideStar.