Givewell was an organization which attempted to promote transparency in charity and giving, started by two college kids with a hedge fund background. Like Charity Navigator, but different. Somehow using business practices to evaluate NGOs. I didn’t really try to research all the details, but it sounds like more of the same to me.

The interesting part is, the organization’s founder, Holden Karnofsky, just ran into trouble for praising Givewell all over the internet without stating that he was the founder.

So much of what I write here is P2V (person-to-void), I can understand the temptation to fake up some discussion about a venture that seems important. However, I have never faked comments because that would be unspeakably lame. From an organization that supports transparency, it’s just ludicrous.

The one thing I have to say is this: if they were applying business knowledge to the nonprofit world, why had Holden never heard of John Mackey?

The internet makes some people stupid.