For the second time in as many months, I’m disappointed in the Wall Street Journal’s choice to publish tired opinions and outdated views of corporate social responsibility. 

The following excerpt is taken from an article by Jason Saul and Cheryl Davenport currently featured on CRO Magazine's website and to be published in the October print edition.    

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:

It’d be fair to say Bill Gates and Warren Buffett make up the Dynamic Duo of the philanthropy world.  Much like Batman and Robin, Gates and Buffett seem to be able to surprise the world when we least expect it, fighting social problems for the greater good with their immense wealth.  They have quickly and smartly realized that with wealth comes power, and with power comes responsibility.  More than ever before, the public is looking to the world’s elite to solve social problems because they have the means to scale social efforts with Batmobile-like speed.

Here’s a challenge: next time you are on an international flight, grab the in-flight magazine and see if you can find an advertisement from a European or Asian country touting their ideal conditions for setting up a business.  Many of the advertisements discuss in great detail their pro-business policies and highly educated workforce as well as the necessary infrastructure to make your overseas enterprise successful. 

In an opinion piece in last week’s Washington Post, the respected author and global editor of Thomson Reuters, Chrystia Freeland, blasted corporate social responsibility as a “cult” and a “fetish.”    At first glance, I found Ms.

What if we did a webinar?  Or took more grant applications?  Or created a foundation?  Or launched a new community program?  Or gave out more money?  My clients regularly toss around questions like these as they search for novel strategies and new ideas in social impact.  While these kinds of brainstorming sessions are fun and exciting, they can also be risky, even futile, if not linked to goals and objectives.

It’s 18 months into the launch of an African development program and we’re rethinking our client’s logic model.  “Uh oh,” you say, “why wasn’t this fully baked from the get-go?”  As it turns out, the opportunity to revisit and revise theories, logic and ideas is truly terrific.  It’s terrific because the organization has invested in measurement and now has the data to inform and improve its strategy and produce greater if not significantly greater impact later.

On April 28, 2010 The Resource Foundation (TRF) and The United Nations Office for Partnerships co-hosted a forum on Evaluating the Dynamics of Partnerships in Latin America and the Caribbean at the United Nations headquarters. This event brought together 65 corporate and foundation leaders, along with evaluation specialists to discuss the potential, challenges, intricacies and importance of partnerships, particularly as they relate to promoting development activity in Latin America and the Caribbean.