CSR, nonprofit, and foundation professionals see the fall leaves turn and smell something in the air – conferences. The economy didn’t change the attendance numbers, energy, or engagement at this year’s Independent Sector Conference in Detroit, Michigan or the NetImpact Conference in Ithaca, New York. This particular thoughtscrap will focus on the highlights from the Independent Sector Conference in Detroit, Michigan.    The opening plenary by Melody Barnes, President Obama’s chief domestic policy advisor, was nothing short of insightful and inspirational. I’m glad she gets to play golf with President Obama.   

The social sector is abuzz with language related to measuring results, measurable impact, and outcomes-based thinking these days, but what do these terms really mean for funders? 

At a recent client meeting, the Executive Director of a large advocacy and policy organization frustratingly asked, “I wish I had a way to measure our work, in a way that makes sense not only internally, but externally…how can I measure policy and advocacy work?” We hear similar sentiments from the majority of clients, especially those that work on policy and advocacy. Achieving policy change can take years and at the end of the day, is typically measured based on whether or not a piece of legislation has been passed. We, and the people who live and breathe policy and advocacy work, understand that there are many intermediate steps that happen in order to get to that point.

Thomas Siebel, founder of Siebel Systems, Inc., achieved significant results when he decided to take a stand against methamphetamine ("meth") abuse in Montana a few years ago.  Investing several million dollars in media campaigns, Siebel dramatically improved the state's ranking among U.S. states in terms of meth abuse—moving from 5th to 39th—and more than tripled the percent of Montana teens who are aware of the dangers of meth—shifting that number from 25% to 93%.