Philanthropedia
title: "Philanthropedia" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["charity-review-websites", "american-review-websites"] topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philanthropedia" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox non-profit"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Philanthropedia |
| image | Philanthropedia organizational logo.jpg |
| type | Non-profit Organization |
| founded_date | |
| 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 |
| :: |
| name = Philanthropedia | image = Philanthropedia organizational logo.jpg | type = Non-profit Organization | founded_date = | tax_id = | registration_id = | founder = Erik Bengtsson, Howard Bornstein, Chris Herndon, Deyan Vitanov | location = San Mateo, CA & Washington, D.C. | coordinates = | origins = San Mateo, CA | key_people = Erinn Andrews | area_served = United States | product = | focus = | method = | revenue = | endowment = | num_volunteers = | num_employees = | num_members = | subsid = | owner = | former name = | homepage = http://myphilanthropedia.org | dissolved = | footnotes =
Philanthropedia, a division of GuideStar, was a crowdsourcing resource which provides information about high-impact nonprofit organizations. The site featured reviews from experts who are interviewed and surveyed. 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.
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.
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.
As of 2022, Philanthropedia is no longer hosted.
References
References
- Cuberta, Phil. "Dam Busting to Get a Flood of Giving Now". Gift Hub.
- Rigoglioso, Marguerite. "Giving Just Got Easier: Philanthropedia Brings the Cream to the Top". Stanford Graduate School of Business.
- "Philanthropedia releases microfinance ranking". Philanthropy Management.
- Takagi, Gene. "Philanthropedia". Nonprofit Law Blog.
- Stannard-Stockton, Sean. "Philanthropedia". Tactical Philanthropy.
- "Unitus Endorsed as Top Nonprofit by Philanthropedia". Unitus Labs.
- Paulson, Tom. (2014-08-13). "Water advocates sour on Philanthropedia's crowd-sourced rankings".
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