A First Step for Ed Reform: Getting the Metrics Right
Many programs targeting low-performing students rely on data that doesn’t indicate a real understanding of impact on students’ lives.
Measurement & Evaluation New ways to measure and evaluate the impact an organization’s work has on society
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Measuring Impact Through Field Experiments
It is important to remember that while all this studying is great, innovators should place a higher priority on helping people when some program or product is effective.
How to Ask the Right Questions
Who is the target population for a microcredit intervention? Your answer will depend largely on where you sit: Academics and microfinance institutions will be interested in different groups of people.
Measuring Impact Over Time
It is perhaps no coincidence that the development community’s biggest successes—eradication initiatives like polio and smallpox—are precisely the ones that made monitoring central to their work.
The Mismeasure of Impact
Data scientists and information economists are beginning to pair with social innovators to understand the dynamics of interventions and to separate what works from what doesn’t.
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Drowning in Data
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.
Plotting Impact Beyond Simple Metrics
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.
Ten Nonprofit Funding Models
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.
Creating High-Impact Nonprofits
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.
Ethics and Nonprofits
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.