Putting Evidence to Use
Research does no good if its insights are irrelevant or not applied. Ensuring that evidence influences policy requires developing the right ecosystem and levers for accountability.
Research does no good if its insights are irrelevant or not applied. Ensuring that evidence influences policy requires developing the right ecosystem and levers for accountability.
Scale is a verb, not a noun: The trajectory and curve of impact are more important than the numbers.
Participants are not simply the intended beneficiaries of nonprofit programs. Their organizational experience, in addition to their program experience, should guide nonprofit management to achieve more meaningful social impact.
Impact investing needs more than just “evidence” of impact; we need continuous “impact performance” data that is dynamic, fluid, and iterated upon.
A greater focus on co-created, measurable outcomes can help build trust between public, private, and social sector partners, and thus improve the effectiveness of outcomes-based contracting and the social programs they create.
Funders are calling for more program evaluation, but nonprofits are often collecting dubious data, at great cost to themselves and ultimately to the people they serve.
For NGOs, impact comes in different forms and to track the cycles of social change work, we must think across the tangibility and the speed of emergence of change.
With an understanding of these 10 funding models, nonprofit leaders can use the for-profit world's valuable practice of engaging in succinct and clear conversations about long-term financial strategy.
Conventional wisdom says that scaling social innovation starts with strengthening internal management capabilities. This study of 12 high-impact nonprofits, however, shows that real social change happens when organizations go outside their own walls and find creative ways to enlist the help of others.
Unethical behavior remains a persistent problem in nonprofits and for-profits alike. To help organizations solve that problem, the authors examine the factors that influence moral conduct, the ethical issues that arise specifically in charitable organizations, and the best ways to promote ethical behavior within organizations.