April 23, 2013
As we explore this theme of Evaluation, perhaps what you read next will be familiar to you no matter where your nonprofit organization resides in the world. This commentary, however, focuses on gathering the raw material in Mexico, where Filantrofilia, a rating organization with information on now over 250 organizations,...
April 10, 2013
In February, we visited the topic, Nonprofit Data And The Arc Of History, a perspective on “how the US currently collects, digitizes, and distributes data about charities through an annual reporting return called the Form 990…” This comment came on the heels of an Aspen Institute forum where a new report...
March 5, 2013
How is technology drawing us closer to meeting needs on the groun? We count on it to connect us in ways not previously possible, but the recurring question is, “What are we doing with it?” Daniel Ben Horin surveys this landscape through the dual lenses of data and technology for...
February 27, 2013
Originally published by Impatient Optimists … Last month, the Aspen Institute hosted a forum where they released a new report entitled “Information for Impact: Liberating Nonprofit Sector Data.” The report by researchers Beth Noveck and Daniel Goroff focuses on how the U.S. currently collects, digitizes, and distributes data about charities...
February 20, 2013
This paper, offered in full text for Markets For Good, was originally published by Alliance Magazine. Many thanks to the author, Buzz Schmidt, and to Caroline Hartnell, Editor of Alliance Magazine. The paper proposes in detail a version of an upgraded information infrastructure for the social sector – squarely...
February 19, 2013
We find ourselves in the flurry of activity that is to be expected of the dawn of any movement. On this ground, there is an equalizing factor as the social sector, business, and government are all staring into an opportunity that demands immediate ramping of high-quality data practice. In that...
February 18, 2013
Markets For Good talks with Jeannine Corey , Director of Grants Information Management of The Foundation Center for an update on the Reporting Commitment, an initiative launched by a group of the largest U.S. foundations. We read many announcements of start-ups, projects, and initiatives; but, it’s good to check in...
February 6, 2013
Our conversation on upgrading the information infrastructure for the social sector takes place at a moment in which both the technological and cultural/organizational changes needed to make it happen are equally urgent. And they’re happening. Elizabeth Boris offers a researcher’s perspective on these movements toward better data practice and talks...
February 5, 2013
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been examining the theme of Beneficiary Feedback. We’ve chosen “beneficiary” for convenience, but even finding an appropriate word (consumer? constituent? recipient?) is more than semantics, giving insight into how an organization perceives the people it proposes to help. A brief tour of the sector...
January 31, 2013
Markets For Good, Curator’s Note The nonprofit sector is on the front-lines, working to solve the toughest social problems. But, perhaps the first problem to solve today is an internal one: upgrading our data practices. On airplanes we are strongly advised to put our individual oxygen masks on first, before...
