Mar 02, 2010

Measuring the Unmeasureable

Some new materials on measuring the unmeasureable in philanthropy.

Feb 27, 2010

Toward Better Qualitative Metrics

Earlier this week we hosted a conference call with David Roberts of New Dominion Philanthropy Metrics and Sean Stannard-Stockton of Tactical Philanthropy looking at the role of qualitative metrics in good philanthropic decision-making, and especially how non-profits and foundations could capture qualitative data in reliable and useful ways. We recorded the call for those who were unable to attend, or for those who’d like to share it with friends and peers.

Feb 26, 2010

A Lesson from Haiti: Are Search and Rescue Teams Worth It?

The images of people being rescued from the rubble in Haiti by international search and rescue teams were inspiring and have led some to call for more investment in search and rescue teams. But looking at the data, I think that’s exactly the wrong lesson from the experience in Haiti. As a public health practitioner, and someone dedicated to outcomes measurement, it seems likely to me that SAR-focused relief efforts improperly subordinate the good of the many to the good of a very few. In other words, there are much better ways to direct disaster relief than SAR.

Feb 24, 2010

Helping Haiti’s Children, Part II

What should people do who want to help Haiti’s children?

Feb 15, 2010

When Good Surveys Go Bad—And How To Prevent It

Surveys can easily lead to bad data and false conclusions that can result in future missteps. For instance, a recent study by Dean Karlan and Jonathan Zinman in South Africa found that roughly 40 percent of survey respondents provided erroneous information about their use of credit. To help organizations use surveys effectively, we’re hosting a conference call on February 22nd at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific with David and Sean Stannard-Stockton of Tactical Philanthropy. The call is free. To register for the call and get call-in details, send an email to info@ndpmetrics.com.

Feb 12, 2010

The Right and Wrong Way to Survey

There are plenty of organizations that have taken some first steps toward impact measurement using surveys. Surveys are the most popular form of measurement because they seem to be straightforward, easy and relatively cheap compared to the alternatives.

Unfortunately these first steps are often dangerous.

Why? Because surveys can easily lead to bad data and false conclusions that can result in future missteps.

Feb 12, 2010

Helping Haiti’s children, Part I

Adoption not the answer for Haiti’s children.

Feb 11, 2010

A Round-Up of Education Headlines

There have been a number of articles and reports published in the past few weeks pointing toward the value of clear evidence of what works in the field of education.

Jan 25, 2010

A Downside of Donor Education?

In an earlier post I argued that donors pushing for better measurement and accountability might not be as effective as non-profit employees pushing for those same reforms internally, but Mario Morino of Venture Philanthropy Partners takes it one step further and says external pressure might actually be detrimental.

Jan 22, 2010

Will Donor Advice Do Any Good?

As I see more and more advice on giving to Haiti appear, I’ve begun to wonder: how will we know if this proliferation of good advice has had an impact on the Haitian relief and recovery effort? What metrics will tell us that donors to Haiti and the nonprofits working there learned the lessons of the tsunami, Katrina, and Nargis?