Giving Compass' Take:

• Ollie Williams explains that Epic vets organizations and offers a way for donors to channel their funds to those trusted organizations to overcome the philanthropy trust problem. 

• Is a lack of information and trust hindering your philanthropy? Are intermediaries the right vehicle for your giving? 

• Learn about issue funds and intermediaries. 

"'Why are you not doing more?' Its always the same reasons: No trust, no time, no knowledge," says Mars.

Nor are these excuses mutually exclusive. The snowball effect is easy to see: If a busy entrepreneur does not have time to research charities, then they will not acquire the knowledge necessary to trust them.

This is why most people who do give money away send it to the same old institutions: schools, universities, and religious organizations.

Smaller charities often suffer as a result. As Mars explains in his new book, Giving: Purpose Is The New Currency: "A pitfall emerged in my discussions with donors: the lack of trust that comes with an avalanche of options. Scientific studies have shown that when you have more than seven options, you are more likely to procrastinate and make no choice at all."

How do you change this way of giving, which is clearly no longer working the way it should?

"If you have money and you want to invest with someone you trust, where will you go? You will pick Sequoia, Accel, maybe Index," Mars says talking about private equity companies ("I know them well," he adds).

This is what Epic does: Each year it analyses thousands of charities around the world that fight childhood and youth inequality, in a similar way a private equity firm does with startups and SMEs.

Last year Epic reviewed more than 4,000 organizations and selected five. Epic then supports those organizations for a minimum of three years. Charities can be funded for longer, but the portfolio remains selective, with just 28 at the time of writing.

Mars shoulders all the costs so donors can rest assured their money goes to the charities that need it.

Read the full article about Epic by Ollie Williams at Forbes.