October 22, 2012
Children’s Parties and the Demise of the Soviet Union
GlobalGiving CEO Mari Kuraishi speaks her view on the explicit and implicit structures that would define a new information infrastructure for the social sector.
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 It is no longer being updated.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 15, 2012
Filling the Nonprofit Information Vacuum
Cinthia Schuman Ottinger, Deputy Director for Philanthropy Programs at the Aspen Institute’s Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation, discusses the need for nonprofit data and the impact that it can have. A good part of the problem, however, is unlocking that data from the protocols and structures that render is less accessible, less useful. Cinthia […]
October 12, 2012
Examining the Market Approach
Nick Deychakiwsky, Program Officer of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, raises a few questions that go to the core of the concept of an information marketplace and how we should (or shouldn’t) think about it as we organize our work in the social sector. Building an information infrastructure for social change, progress, development, etc. is […]
October 11, 2012
The Bear And The Ladle, Part II
If, in part I, we were urged to adjust our lens for viewing social problems, Katya Smyth continues the disruption here, making the case for thinking across boundaries as we attack those problems and for combining our minds long before we combine our data. If I am a homeless survivor of domestic violence with mental […]
October 10, 2012
Faster, Smarter Nonprofit Financial Analysis, Part II
In Part I of this two-part look at financial analysis for nonprofits, Rebecca Thomas gave insight into the “why” of financial statement literacy. Continuing here, she uses Financial SCAN as an example to share what can be achieved when financial analysis becomes a regularly used tool among others in the box. (Financial SCAN is a […]
October 9, 2012
A New Reporting Commitment
Guest post from Darin McKeever, a deputy director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, regarding a major new agreement among a few of the US’ largest foundations: The Reporting Commitment. At the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we firmly believe transparency is a key ingredient in maximizing impact because it inspires new innovations and […]
The Bear And The Ladle, Part I
The momentum toward better use and sharing of data is clear. But, before simply continuing the march forward, Katya Smyth suggests that we adjust the lens through which we see social problems (how we see “the bear”) and then take a hard look at our base assumptions. Part I of II Long before light pollution, […]
October 3, 2012
Let Our Data Define Us – Part II
Lucy Bernholz outlines a new definition for the sector at the forefront of taking on our biggest challenges.
October 2, 2012
Welcome to the Markets for Good Conversation
Brian Walsh of Liquidnet writes, “We hope that this site will serve as the ‘virtual water cooler’ for a sustained, thoughtful conversation about what is needed to improve the social sector’s ability to generate, share, and use information.”
Let Our Data Define Us – Part I
In the first of a two-part post, Lucy Bernholz issues a challenge to the social sector: discover the potential in our data and change the way we use it.