Measuring Movements
Last month, APEP’s David Devlin-Foltz presented the Advocacy Progress Planner at the Grantmakers for Effective Organizations’ “Supporting Movements” conference here in Washington, DC. The conference organizers put together a list of great resources for folks interested in the topic. But precisely how do we measure the progress of a movement, as opposed to a partnership, coalition or network? Perhaps a follow-up convening can tackle this challenge head on!
Our “Aspen Idea”
The winter issue of the Aspen Institute’s magazine, The Aspen Idea, is now out and a story about APEP’s evaluation work made the cut (see pages 40-41). David Devlin-Foltz and Robert Medina write about our ongoing evaluation for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation of Univision’s multi-platform media campaign. Es El Momento aims to educate Hispanic parents about strategies to ensure that their children are college ready by the time they graduate from high school. The campaign and the evaluation are complex, for sure. Check it out—and let us know your thoughts.
Looking Forward
So, 2013 is wrapping up (quickly!). To help us look to the future, Grantcraft—a partnership between the Foundation Center and the European Foundation Centre—came out with their annual “industry forecast” for next year titled Philanthropy and Social Economy: Blueprint 2014. And as Lucy Bernholz explains in her blog, a big chunk of it is devoted to the game-changin’ potential of an emerging “digital civil society.” The report points to three particular areas where digital approaches may change the way philanthropy works: relationship-building among organizations, ownership and governance of social impact efforts, and the role of data in decision-making.
