The Marshall Institute works to improve the impact and effectiveness of private action for public benefit. By private action we mean the activities of philanthropic foundations, social entrepreneurs, charities, NGOs and individual citizens, donating their time, money, ideas, knowledge and skills to serve the public good. By public benefit we mean activities that serve an explicitly social goal. Very often these interventions involve significant risk.  Almost always they involve outcomes that are hard to measure. They are always improved by understanding.