Measurement & Evaluation
Experimental Conversations: Perspectives on Randomized Trials in Development Economics
A dialogue with University of Michigan professor Dean Yang on what we can—and can't—learn from randomized controlled trials.
Excerpt
Timothy Ogden
Tim Ogden (@philaction or @timothyogden) is managing director of the Financial Access Initiative at NYU and executive partner at Sona Partners, a thought leadership communications firm. He is co-author of Toyota Under Fire, and author of the forthcoming Experimental Conversations, a collection of interviews with economists conducting field experiments on poverty alleviation. He has developed and edited more than 20 books, including award-winning business books on innovation and marketing. In addition to writing regularly for SSIR, he serves as editor-in-chief of Philanthropy Action and as a contributing editor for Alliance magazine.
Philanthropy & Funding
Can a Surge in Giving Be Bad News?
Recent leaps in giving to specific causes in the United States probably don’t represent a net addition to the annual total—which means a lean season for many nonprofits unless foundations step up their game.
Economic Development
The IRS’s Secret, Successful Low-Income Savings Program
Let’s build on—not try to fix—overwithholding.
Review
Economic Development
No Value
A "big think" look at the future of capitalism fails to reckon with the factors that make capitalism so resilient.
Review
Economic Development
Prepare to Update Your Theory of Change
The new book Scarcity provides critical insights for designing better anti-poverty programs, but not for allocating scarce philanthropic resources.
Philanthropy
What, Exactly, Is Giving Tuesday’s Theory of Change?
Giving Tuesday seems poised to be a permanent fixture in the philanthropic landscape. So what’s the theory of change behind it?
Individual Giving
Ten Years On: Are Donors Different? Were They Ever?
Despite years of claiming the contrary, donors still don’t really care about nonprofit performance or impact.
Online Giving
Scrooge’s Revenge: More on Giving Tuesday
Pushing back against efforts that are likely to lead to disappointment, and three ways we might reframe the initiative.
Philanthropy & Funding
The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Giving Tuesday
The effort to make giving public and start a “giving season” won’t materially affect giving in any positive way.
Review
Social Entrepreneurship
Suggestive Evidence
Why do some people, systems, and societies bounce back from adversity and other don't?
Civil Society
Losing the Courage of Your Convictions
We must be willing to continually examine and test our core convictions and assumptions, and confirm that they are worth holding.
Review
Social Entrepreneurship
Techno-Optimists Beware
Two books argue that entrepreneurs and technology are transforming the global economy.
Review
Leadership
Techno-Optimists Beware
Two books argue that entrepreneurs and technology are transforming the global economy.
Social Entrepreneurship
The True Cost of Social Capital
We’re a long way from bringing the real cost of social capital in line with commercial capital.
Social Entrepreneurship
Turning Success into Failure
An essential skill for innovators and entrepreneurs is the ability to turn success into failure.
Review
Economic Development
The Race vs. the Stagnation
Two economists offer opposite explanations about why job growth in the United States and other developed economies remains extremely weak.
Review
Economic Development
The Race vs. the Stagnation
Two economists offer opposite explanations about why job growth in the United States and other developed economies remains extremely weak.
Nonprofit Management
Free the Knowledge
Useful knowledge for the social sector coming from academic researchers is severely limited.
Foundations
Living with the Gates Foundation: A Retrospective
A summary of articles and discussions about the Gates Foundation’s impact on global social change.
Fundraising
GOOD Questions About the Jumo Acquisition
In the wake of the announcement of the intent to GOOD to absorb Jumo, questions arise about form, functions, policy, and societal value.
Review
Economic Development
Radically Small Thinking
Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty by Abhijit Banerjee & Esther Duflo
Global Issues
Less Epistemology, More Evolution
An analysis of Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo’s book Poor Economics.
Microfinance
Lessons from Grameen and Microfinance—Are You Building an Institution of Change?
Not every organization should become an institution. But long-term change really is dependent on institutions.
Global Issues
Thinking Small
The problem with “changing the world” is that it probably involves invoking impossibly superficial means to address oversimplified problems.
Microfinance
Sunny Days for Microfinance
I think the current moment is the beginning of the golden years for microfinance.
Philanthropy
Cause Marketing Does More Harm Than Good
I believe that cause marketing programs erode the joy of giving, turn consumers into cynics, and contribute to the overall loss of faith and trust in the nonprofit sector.
Philanthropy
Social Capital Markets: What Are the Most Important Signs of Progress?
What are the most important signs of progress in social capital markets in the last 10 years?
Nonprofits
Lies, Damned Lies, Statistics, and Data Visualization
For nonprofits working on social change, data and data visualization are extremely valuable.
Philanthropy
The Charitable Giving Market is Efficient After All
Donors are getting exactly what they want from their charitable giving—the market is efficient, even highly so.
Social Entrepreneurship
Lagging Imperialists in Social Entrepreneurship and How to Avoid Them
We need more good examples and fewer good intentions in social entrepreneurship and humanitarian design.
Fundraising
Professional Altruism Is Harder than It Looks
Foundation program officers—a case for empathy.
Philanthropy
Obama’s Missed Opportunity to Change Charitable Giving
Obama could have radically changed the debate on how to allocate charitable funds if he had detailed the set of criteria used to donate his Nobel Peace Prize award money.
Measuring Social Impact
Patient Optimists
Patient optimists have lowered their expectations of any particular program or intervention, but not their belief in a better world over the long term.