Stanford Social Innovation Review just published a wonderful article by Geoff Mulgan entitled "Measuring Social Value."It is very timely, in fact, because it continues the commentary of a recent Thoughtscrap by my colleague, Rick Groves, which provides a compelling argument on the need for the right data, whether quantitative or qualitative, when measuring social impact as opposed to data for data sake. I will let you all read through this piece but will offer up some of my favorite points:

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%.