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A Guide to Measuring Advocacy and Policy

The Annie E. Casey Foundation's Guide to Measuring Advocacy and Policy (38 page PDF) is both accessible and smart. Evaluating any kind of social change work is tricky, but there are some definite methods available for projects that focus on policy change. As always, the key disciplines are to define the desired changes in terms that are possible to evaluate and to develop a clear theory of change that lays out the causal elements involved. They publish a Handbook of Data Collection Tools as a companion piece as well. Posted: 2/18/08; 5:58:13 PM #

The Bottom is Not Enough

In The Bottom is Not Enough, Kevin Kelly explores the interplay between emergent, bottom-up processes and hierarchical, top-down processes and suggests that timing is the key element that determines the right mix of the two in any given situation. Like other sectors, civil society is caught between the two extremes. I tend to think that, despite our values, we have leaned toward the top-down. But we also have our share of poorly thought out bottom-up projects as well. Kelly is on to an important aspect of working out the right mix. Posted: 2/18/08; 5:50:58 PM #

Six Principles for Making New Things

I continue to be a fan of Paul Graham. His recent Six Principles for Making New Things are as applicable to civil society as anywhere else: Find (1) simple solutions to (2) overlooked problems (3) that actually need to be solved, and (4) deliver them as informally as possible, (5) starting with a very crude version 1, then (6) iterating rapidly. The only thing I might change is the phrase "overlooked problems" but even there I would say he has a strong point. Some of the best social innovations are the ones that reframe the issues. Posted: 2/18/08; 5:34:59 PM #