I just finished reading McKinsey’s new white paper, Learning For Social Impact: What Foundations Can Do, recently released by McKinsey’s Social Sector Office.  Not surprisingly, the release of this report coincided with the launch of McKinsey’s new website: Learning for Social Impact.  Although the Learning for Social Impact was chock-full of useful insights, there were two elements that really stood out.

During the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) International Conference last week in Baltimore, the outgoing Chair of AFP offered a new definition of ROI: Results, Outcomes and Impact. While the words themselves can mean different things to different people, the message was clear. Donors want more than just a relationship with an organization and moreover, they want more than a testimonial or a picture. They want to know that their gift, or investment, has produced a tangible and meaningful result for the organization and/or its beneficiaries. This is certainly the case for more and more institutional funders, including foundations and corporations, and it is increasingly true for individual donors. 

Bill Tucker's Commentary in EdWeek shares important lessons from the move to electronic medical records in the health care industry. Of particular note, Tucker is clear, as many of us have found, that the technology and mere availability of data are necessary, but not sufficient to create change.

I recently viewed a video of a presentation given by Esther Duflo at PopTech 2009.  (Esther Duflo is a development economist who has garnered significant attention for her work on randomized evaluation.  She is based at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab at MIT, which she co-founded.)  What I found most intriguing about her commentary is the way she highlights evaluation as a way to figure out what works in development.  She starts with what we all know to be true: development problems are big, intimidating, and seemingly intractable.  But fortunately, she doesn’t stop there.

“To realize meaningful benefits, philanthropy cannot be treated as just another ‘check the box,’ but rather must be executed no less professionally, proactively, and strategically than other core business activities.”