Measurements are often given meaning relative to thresholds. Someone is housed or unhoused, poor or not poor, by some definition. Yet these thresholds are arbitrary, and open to debate and manipulation. While one might think there would be agreement on what homeless means, especially since it is a word that almost defines itself, there is considerable argument [...]
Evaluating organizational effectiveness is a growing sub-field of the social sector, with a slew of competing measurement frameworks. Something a lot of these frameworks assess is whether organizations make use of data management system. The idea is that an organization that has a data management system in place is more likely to be data savvy [...]
As the furor to incorporate metrics in the social sector grows, organizations are feeling the heat to get more data savvy. In principle, this is a good thing. Information should help inform decision making. But there is a big difference between information informing your agenda and allowing it to set it. Data should inform your [...]
Professionally I do two things; I help organizations make high impact data-oriented decisions, and I write. As 2011 draws to a close, I reflect on another year helping a lot of great organizations increase their social impact, and a pile of blog posts that I hope help advance the social sector toward lasting change. Obviously I believe writing, [...]
As 2011 comes to an end and we look forward to 2012, pieces predicting what will happen in the coming year are popular in every industry, including the social sector. While making predictions is no easy task, not even for psychics, making predictions in the social sector is especially difficult. Most industries tend to have [...]
For all the buzz about how data is supposed to change the social sector, there is scant evidence that revolution is truly underway. Certainly there are high-profit efforts to catalogue and aggregate data as social sector organizations are savvy to the importance of documenting their work and outcomes in databases. But moving data from our [...]
Last Friday the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Partnership hosted a one day seminar on the pay-for success (also known as social impact bond) approach to social sector financing. I’ve been critical of social impact bonds (SIB) in the past, so was interested to watch the White House’s live stream of the [...]
We are living in an era of data deluge. Social sector talking heads are preaching the promise of “big data”, yet few arguments have been made about how all this data will facilitate impact. Data is useful only in so far as it helps inform decision making. And while social sector organizations aim to solve [...]
Organizations are often tasked with making bold predictions about future achievement. But as the 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness illustrates, most of the predictions we make in the social sector are based on hope and little else. Good predictions are based on sound models and historical data. And before you think the concept of modeling is [...]
Non-profit consultant Nell Edgington was kind enough to interview me for her Social Velocity blog yesterday. She asked some interesting questions about what comprises good evaluation, how to make evaluation accessible and affordable for organizations of all sizes, and what role government plays in social sector innovation and combating poverty. The common thread throughout the [...]
