Resources for a Brighter Future
Considering the difference between the expected and a better future can bring about a change in course and a willingness to embrace innovation and experimentation.
The Re-imagining Measurement initiative, from the Monitor Institute by Deloitte, takes place at a pivotal moment in the field. There’s tremendous excitement about the blossoming potential of new developments in data accessibility, methods, tools, and analytics. There’s also palpable confusion about the complexities of measuring social impact, and real frustration as individual evaluation “bright spots” in the field multiply but don’t necessarily sum to clear answers.
With support from a set of funders including the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, Monitor launched the Re-imagining Measurement initiative in 2016. It featured conversations with 125 experts and practitioners, development of a “bright spots” catalog with 750 examples, research into current practices and trends in philanthropy, and study of relevant trends from adjacent fields.
Through this process, stakeholders identified three defining characteristics of a better future:
- Purpose: More effectively putting decision-making at the center of monitoring, evaluation, and learning efforts
- Perspective: Better empowering constituents and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in choice-making processes
- Alignment with other actors: More productively learning at scale to match the size and complexity of today’s challenges
This body of work provides insight into practices worth spreading, and inspires experimentation with a range of actions for using data and information to advance the social sector. The initiative resources include:
Re-imagining Measurement: Synthesis
An accessible summary and ways philanthropy can re-imagine monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems for the future.
Re-imagining Measurement: The Complete Report
A report documenting all initiative findings.
Re-imagining Measurement Toolkit
A multi-dimensional innovation toolkit that equips those who lead, implement, study, and fund monitoring, evaluation, and learning in the social sector.
