Editor’s Note: This is the fourth of a 7-part series on Developing A Growth Business Plan. The series is based on presentations made at the Social Impact Exchange Symposium on Scaling Impact held June 14 and on the experiences of nonprofits that participated in the business plan competition. Evaluation and Sharing Knowledge was presented by Geri Stengel.

“Evaluation” and “measurement” bring shivers of apprehension to some, with visions of a mound of data collected for external reports that have no bearing on anyone’s job but do affect whether the organization gets funding.

Get rid of that mindset and you get rid of “data angst.”

Scaling - How To Adapt a Business Process to Each Context Successfully

by Guest Blogger on Jul 6, 2010 - 10:16am

#siex10 Commentary / Opinion context cultural climate evaluation Nonprofit nonprofit technology

Yves Salama, CEO of CharityMatrix

Who could have anticipated that Starbucks would open 50+ stores in France, home of the original cafè crème, but not in Italy, home of the original latte? While Starbucks adopted the Italian model (coffee as a social event) to the U.S. and 43 other countries, they could not improve the experience for Italians. Streamlining the business process to make it portable and adaptable to other areas requires that evaluation include the context: the region or culture.

Social Impact Exchange Conference on Scaling: What's Next?

by Guest Blogger on Jul 6, 2010 - 9:09am

#siex10 Commentary / Opinion donors evaluation Nonprofit nonprofit scaling process mapping

Yves Salama, CEO of Charity Matrix

It's hard to imagine an inaugural conference spurring more thought, discussion and contacts than spurred by the Social Impact Exchange Conference on bringing nonprofit innovation to scale. That all participants are eager for the follow-up next year is undeniable. The question is where will the conversation pick up? Will it take off from where it ended on June 18, or leapfrog to encompass ideas generated during the next 12 months?