Social Issues
Getting Out the Vote Is Tougher Than You Think
Recent randomized field trials provide evidence that most get out the vote mobilization efforts have very modest effects on voter turnout, much less than previously thought.
Measurement & Evaluation - Most Popular
New ways to measure and evaluate the impact an organization’s work has on society (more)
Community Engagement Matters (Now More Than Ever)
In adopting data-driven practices, leaders must design and implement programs in ways that engage community members directly in the work of social change.
Who Will Pay for Data?
The quest to build an infrastructure for measuring social impact depends on targeting the right customers.
What Impact Investors Can Learn from the Microfinance Industry
Substitute the word “impact” for “social performance,” and current debates in the investment community sound exactly like the ones the microfinance industry had 10 years ago. The investor community can learn from microfinance’s successful efforts to set standards for non-financial returns—the “other bottom line.”
Civic Engagement
Making Voting Easier Doesn’t Increase Turnout
To the surprise of many, making the act of voting easier hasn’t actually led to higher voter turnout. To increase turnout, we need to get more people interested in politics.
An Outcomes Mindset for Systemic Impact
To achieve broad social impact, we need systemic solutions. This requires government to lead with an outcomes-focused approach that embraces data and technology, aligns financial incentives, learns from policy failures and successes, and acts on new knowledge about what works.
Evaluating Grantees: Learning from a Top-Performing Funder
One funder’s unusual reporting and evaluation system is proving very helpful to grantees.
The Wild West of Measuring Corporate Sustainability
It’s a confusing time for measuring corporate social and environmental impact, but the pioneers who take it seriously, set ambitious goals, and report accurately will come out ahead.
The Promise and Peril of an “Outcomes Mindset”
If government is going to champion outcomes-based policies, let’s learn from our mistakes.
Reconsidering Evidence: What It Means and How We Use It
The tide that has swept experimental program evaluation to the forefront of knowledge building about social policy is suddenly ebbing.