“Just Trust Us”: 4 Reasons Nonprofits Must Embrace Data-Driven Impact
Nonprofits need to focus on why they do their work. This is impact, and this is where movement and inspiration exist. The "why" is created when nonprofits are able to share stories informed by the narratives their beneficiaries tell and the data found in the services they provide.
Behind the Buy
The tension between counterfeit and genuine communities is clear: the former offers convenience without reciprocity, while the latter thrives on complexity, mutual care, and shared investment. Real communities aren’t just neat consumer experiences—they’re messy, meaningful, and built on connections.
Taylor Swift concerts exemplify this: more than music, they foster shared cultural bonds. Similarly, brands like Barnes & Noble thrive by shifting from corporate individualism to nurturing in-person connections. Successful brands don’t create communities; they support and amplify existing ones, turning shared values into enduring relationships.
Hotdogs Are Not Sandwiches: A Ridiculous, Relatable, Somewhat Serious Case for Context
If you understand context, you realize that a hotdog is not a sandwich in any useful sense. Obviously there are much more important questions, and they are often no less convoluted. How critical is it, then, that we understand the context in which we deploy social impact programs? How can we enact education interventions without understanding the classroom, teachers, students, and their home lives? How can we create and deliver products/solutions that make a difference if we don’t understand the context in which they will be used?
7 Reasons Why Social Impact Measurement Matters
Social impact measurement can (and should) be more than a box you check. It can help you maximize the good, avoid the bad, and get buy-in so you can do even more.
The Heart and Soul of Social Good—Part 3: The Science and Art of Social Impact
To have impact at scale, you must understand people at scale. Sociologists can, of course, help measure outcomes and can draw on past research to consult from outside. But where we do our best work is from the inside, as part of the design team, where we can help you make sure that all relevant voices are heard and that all relevant markers are being factored into your definition of success.
The Heart and Soul of Social Good—Part 1: Understanding the Field
It may go without saying that “social good” is the goal of most nonprofit organizations, philanthropies, community organizations and is an integral part of what local, state, and federal governments intend to do—benefit society. So, if social good is an innately human experience and the idea itself is not new, what is?