Feeding the rat- what can happen when you make philanthropy accountable: Kevin Starr at TEDxBYU
The speaker asserts that philanthropy requires an intense, measurable accountability for *impact*—analogous to profit—because feeding this intellectual "rat" necessitates taking risks on scalable models like advanced family farming. To achieve this, organizations must adopt an eight-word mission statement, determine a single measurable outcome, and confront the counterfactual to prove their unique contribution. This framework is best illustrated by Alex Petro's work establishing a model in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ## Speakers & Context - Speaker: Unidentified individual; formerly a newly minted physician; addressed a professional audience, likely related to philanthropy, as the talk pivoted from its initial scope. - Mentor: Rer Arnhold. ## Theses & Positions - The speaker proposes that the concept of "impact" should function as the analog to profit, compelling donors to think about the "cost of impact" as the analog of return on investment. - The core goal for the philanthropic sector should be to make oneself "accountable for impact"—to the self, the world, and the board—to maximize global benefit from entrusted money. - A meaningful philanthropic endeavor must move beyond simply accumulating "jewel boxes of projects" to pursue **scale**, defined as being *scalable* (inexpensive enough for replication), *replicable* (systematic and broadly adaptable), and knowing its ultimate trajectory (via government, market, or other organizations). - The greatest challenge and opportunity is the **counterfactual**—determining what would have happened without the intervention—which requires guts to examine. ## Concepts & Definitions - **"Feeding the rat":** A craving for deep experiences with an uncertain outcome; used by Mo Antoine to describe the speaker's motivation for adventure. - **Impact:** The measurable difference between what happened *with* the intervention and what would have happened *without* the intervention. - **Eight-word mission statement:** A guiding prompt used to understand an organization's impact by describing what it does in eight words or less, including a verb, a target population, and a measurable outcome. - **Counterfactual:** A technical term referring to what would have happened without the intervention. - **Scale:** The ability of a solution to be lasting, inexpensive enough for replication, systematic, and adaptable. - **Asymmetric power relationship:** The reality in philanthropy where the organization *needs* the money, while the donors *have* the money, which undermines genuine partnership. ## Mechanisms & Processes - **Developing the eight-word mission statement:** Requires identifying: 1) What is done; 2) Who is the target population; 3) What is the measurable outcome. - **Measuring Impact:** The process involves quantifying the difference between reality (with intervention) and the established counterfactual (without intervention). - **Creating a scalable model:** Requires solving technical challenges (like inefficient farming methods) with systems that can be adopted by governments, markets, or other organizations. ## Named Entities - **Mo Antoine:** British climber who coined the phrase "feeding the rat" to describe the speaker's motivations. - **Rer Arnhold:** Mentor in Bolivia. - **Martin Fiser:** Individual developing manual irrigation pumps for smallholder farmers. - **Alex Petro:** Friend involved in pioneering agricultural models. - **Fiston Malaga:** Partner with Alex Petro in the DRC effort. ## Numbers & Data - Duration on Trango Tower: **18 days** up, **3 days** down. - Food required for the climb: **two weeks worth of food** for a **3-person climb**. - Duration of banking family tenure: **300 years**. - Income increase for pump users: **a factor of 10**. - Mobile phone ownership change in rural Kenya: **10% to 40%** (400% increase) with Millennium Villages; **20% to 50%** (the counterfactual). ## Examples & Cases - **Trango Tower Ascent:** Climbed the unclimbed North Face of Trango Tower in Pakistan (near K2) with three friends; involved living suspended in "little bat tents" for 18 days, requiring constant melting of water for hydration. - **Banking Family:** A family involved in banking for 300 years who sought to found a foundation to carry on Rer Arnhold's legacy. - **Martin Fiser's Pumps:** Manual irrigation pumps enabling smallholder farmers to switch from one single rainfed crop annually to "more high value crops a couple of times a year." - **One Acre Fund:** Focuses on helping African farmers get out of extreme poverty by making a decent living from a **1-acre plot of land**. - **Lloyd's Life Network:** A network of women selling health products and conducting health education. - **Offgrid Electric (Tanzania):** Provides solar energy systems cheaper than kerosene, charging for power for lighting and mobile chargers. - **Millennium Villages Project (Kenya):** Reported mobile phone ownership rising from **10% to 40%** (the intervention), when the counterfactual rate was **20% to 50%**. - **Alex Petro/Fiston Malaga:** Establishing a teaching farm in the Democratic Republic of the Congo using sophisticated techniques for smallholder farmers, where Fiston had to hide from assassination squads. ## Tools, Tech & Products - **Manual irrigation pumps:** Developed by Martin Fiser for smallholder farmers. - **Solar energy system:** Offered by Offgrid Electric in Tanzania, suitable for residential use. - **The 1-acre plot:** A measurable unit of land focus for One Acre Fund. ## References Cited - *Small is Beautiful* by E.F. Schumacher. ## Trade-offs & Alternatives - **Adrenaline Junkies (Concept):** Over caffeinated media referring to people engaged in high-risk sports. - **Impact vs. Profit:** Framing the concept that impact should guide philanthropy, much like profit guides commerce. - **Direct Aid vs. Systemic Change:** The shift from simply identifying worthy projects to focusing on robust, scalable systems. - **Market Functioning:** The goal of creating a social sector that functions *like* a real market for impact. ## Counterarguments & Caveats - The general industry tendency to view philanthropy as "nonsense" because it is perceived as an asymmetric power dynamic rather than a true partnership. - The risk inherent in true accountability: to achieve "Maximum Impact," one must be willing to take risks on potentially failing endeavors. - Failure in the Congo effort was noted as a risk because Fiston Malaga backed the "wrong political horse." ## Methodology - **Climbing:** Sequential, methodical ascent on Trango Tower, involving sustained effort over 18 days. - **Philanthropic Assessment:** Using the eight-word mission statement and quantifying measurable outcomes (e.g., income, child mortality rates). - **Defining Improvement:** Calculating impact as the difference between the observed outcome and the established counterfactual. ## Conclusions & Recommendations - To achieve large-scale social change, the social sector must adopt principles of accountability, scalability, and measurable impact, mimicking market efficiency. - The speaker strongly recommends embracing the mindset of *feeding the rat* by committing to impact accountability. - The ultimate goal is building a "social sector that functions like a real market for impact." ## Implications & Consequences - If accountability for impact is established, the philanthropic world could transition to efficiently allocating resources to the most effective change agents. - Successfully executing this model suggests a future where social problem-solving is driven by measurable, market-like incentives rather than arbitrary grant-giving. ## Verbatim Moments - *"I was feeding the rat."* - *"impact is the analog of profit"* - *"the cost of impact as the analog of return on investment"* - *"what we want to know first to try to understand an organization's impact is to think about how would you describe what you do in eight words or less that includes a verb a Target population and an outcome that implies something to measure"* - *"the counterfactual is a textual technical term for what would have happened without you"* - *"what I thought was really great was little jewel boxes of projects that were finished and Polished and as you get hungry for impact your whole aesthetic changes and you start feeling more like this that scale is beautiful"* - *"if you're trying to squeeze the Maximum Impact you can out of the money that's been entrusted to you you need to take some risks"* - *"I need Fone more than fistone needs me because impact is harder to find than money that's the truth"* - *"feed the rat"* - *"if we can do that we're gonna have more fun doing it"*