| Philanthropedia | |
| Type: | Non-profit Organization |
| Founded Date: | 2008 |
| Founder: | Erik Bengtsson, Howard Bornstein, Chris Herndon, Deyan Vitanov |
| Location: | San Mateo, CA & Washington, D.C. |
| Origins: | San Mateo, CA |
| Key People: | Erinn Andrews |
| Area Served: | United States |
| Homepage: | http://myphilanthropedia.org |
Philanthropedia, a division of GuideStar, was a crowdsourcing resource which provides information about high-impact nonprofit organizations.[1] The site featured reviews from experts who are interviewed and surveyed.[2] The site also featured rankings based on a combination of in-depth surveys and conversations with experts, including academics, funders, grant makers, policy makers and consultants.[3]
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.