Digital Impact was created by the Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford PACS and was managed until 2024. It is no longer being updated.
October 20, 2014
Several months ago we published an article highlighting a website called ‘DIY Toolkit’ – a digital ‘do it yourself’ online resource for nonprofits. The reason for us bringing this (back) to your attention, is they have updated their website with new videos and blogs to better support nonprofits. The toolkit has been “designed […]
October 16, 2014
In a recent NCRP article, Larry McGill, Vice President of Research at The Foundation Center talks about the role that data and collaboration play in driving strategic philanthropy. McGill believes that “no organization, no matter how powerful, can single-handedly bring about true social impact.” Communities are so complex, harboring an entrenched network of […]
October 15, 2014
If, as I have argued, the sector’s approach to impact measurement has become too narrow, even stalled, how can we move forward and make sure it is focused on the right things? Over the next year at New Philanthropy Capital, we will be exploring this question in detail. We’ll be looking at organisations that have […]
October 9, 2014
Last week, in my post ‘Should Controlled Trials Be The Standard for Impact Measurement?’ I examined the effectiveness of randomised controlled trials (RCTs). I presented the case for why the validity of RCTs as the gold standard and Holy Grail of impact measurement is, at the least, up for debate. To enhance the discussion, […]
October 8, 2014
As a community, we’re fully aware that “with predictive analytics, Amazon can figure out what you’ll buy next, Netflix knows what you’ll watch next and Target can guess if you’re pregnant.” However, in a recent NPR article, Priska Neely brings us up to speed with the novel concept of predicting who will become entrepreneurs. […]
October 7, 2014
Members of the Markets for Good community are strong advocates for increasing the availability and use of data in the social sector. But when it comes to impact data, recent progress on increasing the availability of impact data is not yet backed up by meaningful use. Perhaps this is because we’re not yet clear […]
October 6, 2014
In a recent BBC article, Matthew Wall examines the notion that data has an ever-increasing role to play in the job hunt. Those of you who recruit and manage staff will no doubt be aware how many people leave after 18 months, and the difficulty of finding the right individual to join your team. […]
October 2, 2014
The Holy Grail for anyone who develops, invests in, funds and/or runs a social program is to prove that their intervention creates a positive change for all who are served. The randomized controlled trial (RCT) is the industry gold standard amongst all evaluation methods currently used in the social sector. In this, the first […]
October 1, 2014
As regular readers, we expect you have seen – and hopefully signed up to – The Lake Washington Declaration, a bold new set of principles for our social sector. In a similar vein to this, we are highlighting a recent post from The Stanford Social Innovation Review, by Ken Banks, that proposes a code […]
September 29, 2014
Giving more data won’t make us wiser and sacrificing more for data’s sake won’t make us safer. What can the social sector learn from the tragedy of Harvey Dent?
