Santa Claus has become the first major private philanthropist to publish to the IATI Registry according to a press release from Bond*.

London, 18th December, 2013

As part of his IATI commitment, Claus is planning to digitize his records over the course of 2014-2016.

As preparations for Christmas reach their high-point, Bond is today announcing that following a long period of engagement, Santa Claus has committed to publish information on his philanthropic activities to the International Aid Transparency Initiative.

Santa Claus – with his global reach, substantial gift-giving programme and enviable brand awareness – has long been a controversial figure in the aid community. His approach to the provision of gifts-in-kind has been the subject of direct criticism by the OECD Development Assistance Committee, who have suggested that Santa’s policy of only delivering presents manufactured in his own grotto in the North Pole constitutes a form of tied aid, and that he could achieve much greater efficiency by providing cash to recipients, or by sourcing his presents within developing countries. Santa’s commitment to publish his activities to the IATI Registry will enable better comparative data to be generated to test these claims.

Santa has been a pioneer in the use of technology, and his logistics capacity is the envy of actors ranging from Coca-Cola to MSF. However there have been rumours of the use of GM technology in the development of his reindeer-based delivery mechanism. Those looking for insights into Santa’s magic reindeers may be disappointed, however, as this is likely to be excluded under a commercial sensitivity clause in his new Open Information Policy.

Santa’s commitment to publish comes after an organizational Health Check carried out with Bond’s support identified transparency as an area of weakness for Santa. Santa notably scored highly on participation, with his letter-based consultation method being seen as a sector-leading beneficiary feedback mechanism that others could learn from. Santa also scored full marks on “inspiring leadership”, but his lack of a board of trustees creates concerns about governance in his organization.

Other priority areas for improvement include monitoring and evaluation, as Santa’s policy is not to carry out formal reviews of the impact of his gift-giving activities on child wellbeing indicators, which hinders informed decision-making on improving his effectiveness and value-for-money, and limits opportunities for wider learning across the sector.

It is anticipated that publishing data on where Santa’s aid goes will also shed some light on his controversial targeting mechanism. Santa’s approach to distinguishing naughty children from nice children has been considered by many to be too subjective, potentially in breach of principles of equity and non-discrimination and failing to deliver aid where it is needed most.

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*I received this clever press release from Bond’s Michael O’Donnell, Senior Manager Effectiveness Services, who gave me permission to post. Contact Michael (@modonnell151) at Bond for more information.