Assisting Non-Profits

Click here for SchoolMatch information about:
Not-for-Profit Educational Programs - Is Yours Paying Off?

Dear Non-Profit Leader:

It was with great interest that we have spoken with numerous non-profit clients about the changing nature of accountability in philanthropic foundations. We have cutting-edge benchmarking tools and strategies to assist not-for-profits working to help improve our K-12 school systems. We recognize the need the non-profit sector has for accountability, and have been pleased to work with organizations such as:

The Gannett Foundation The Heinz Endowment The Grable Foundation The Knight Ridder Foundation The Argus Foundation The Community Foundation of Sarasota County The Pittsburgh Foundation The Pennsylvania Economy League The Selby Foundation The Venice Foundation The Buhl Foundation Polk Businesses for World Class Education

We are committed to making a significant difference utilizing our skill set, database know-how and understanding of the K-12 context. Using our systems could go a long way in helping you and others in the country measure whether their philanthropic efforts are leading to improvements in the lives of our youth. Equally important, our practical approach to establishing school accountability could play a major role in strengthening schools so young people can successfully make the transition to independent adulthood. This is particularly true in urban and rural areas.

We offer a simple and understandable approach to the evaluation of school results through our SchoolMatch® FairCompare Analysis & Audit. The thing that sets SchoolMatch apart from any other form of benchmarking is our proprietary database information, developed in 1986 and updated continuously.

We compare performance data on the subject school system to other school systems across the entire nation with similar parent education levels, parent income levels, poverty rates, English language fluency and size. Performance comparisons are apples to apples.

SchoolMatch examines a wide range of performance data including dropout rates, attendance rates, scores on college entrance examinations, scores on norm-referenced tests, scores on criterion-referenced tests, teacher attendance, etc.

Using data to make appropriate instructional and financial decisions is the basis of the improvement effort. Community leaders embrace the process for its clarity. School officials appreciate its fairness. Students benefit from the clear blueprint for schools to follow in improving the effectiveness of the educational program.

We have successfully completed Audits in over 1,000 public school systems across the country, developing a model whereby leading community organizations, businesses and newspapers-individually and in collaboration-sponsor an effectiveness review of their community's schools. The resulting report-publicly presented-carefully targets commendations, recommendations and observations within a data-driven benchmark analysis of performance as related to school systems across the country with similar socio-demographic dimensions.

It might be helpful to view our web site at http://schoolmatch.com/ppsi/smaudit.cfm.

Please let us know how we might be of service. Thank you.

Best regards,

Bill Bainbridge

William L. Bainbridge, Ph.D.
President & CEO, and
Distinguished Research Professor,
University of Dayton