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 It is no longer being updated.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 28, 2015
According to Robert Ottenhoff, CEO of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, millions of dollars are given by donors every year for disaster-related activities – but more often than not, it’s not well-planned or well coordinated. A recent example can be seen in the response to the Nepal Earthquake, in which donated emergency supplies were […]
October 23, 2015
Every week at Markets for Good we hear of the inspiring and innovative ways in which nonprofits and charities are harnessing the power of data to make a lasting impact. Policies surrounding data protection and privacy, particularly when it becomes to donor data, are extremely controversial. In the headlines this week, some of the biggest […]
October 22, 2015
In cities across America, mayors are eager to make use of ever-growing streams of data to enhance the effectiveness of city services and improve residents’ lives. If you can track why some blighted buildings take so much longer than others to be demolished and rehabbed; if you know that some residents routinely call an […]
October 21, 2015
Kari Thierer’s Nonprofit Quarterly article ‘Human Needs Index: Unusual Partnership Backs a Real-Time Data Project on Poverty‘ discusses how the Salvation Army and the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University have partnered to help nonprofits get access to current, up-to-date data that supports their needs. Together, they are working to create and expand […]
October 15, 2015
In this news roundup, we take a look at Paul Karon’s article ‘Can Big Data Help Government Do Better? This Foundation Seems to Think So‘, first published on Inside Philanthropy. Philanthropy has been investing heavily in big data over the past year, following the lead of for-profit corporations like Amazon that are using data […]
October 14, 2015
Reports of yet another fraudulent celebrity foundation have hit the news recently,this time for former Subway spokesperson Jared Fogle’s Jared Foundation. Fogle claimed the foundation, founded in 2004, would distribute $2 million in grants to schools and community organizations to help fight obesity, which Fogle overcame after losing 245 pounds from eating Subway subs. According to USA Today, the […]
October 12, 2015
A huge shift is happening in the social sector. Dennis Whittle traces it all the way back to the birth of democracy in Greece circa 594 BCE. The people are sovereign! In titling our special theme ‘Beyond accountability: feedback as transformation’ we are signalling that the long march of democracy has arrived at our doors. When we say […]
October 9, 2015
What if a funder got real-time input from its grantees and other partners to develop its investment strategy? What if they used a design thinking process to not only get feedback from grantees but as a way to develop a more agile way of working? I was thrilled to work with the Brainerd Foundation staff to […]
October 7, 2015
We are very excited to announce that we are a media partner for the Open Data Institute‘s (ODI) Summit this year in London. The Open Data Institute is catalysing the evolution of open data culture to create economic, environmental and social value. It helps unlock supply, generates demand, and creates and disseminates knowledge […]
October 2, 2015
In How Tech is Making African Transit more Uber-like, David Z. Morris examines how nonprofits and developers are compiling data to make transport systems more accountable and accessible in Africa. In an area where formal systems just can’t keep up, informal systems – with often inconsistent routes and timetables – fill the void. These informal […]
