The Goldilocks Challenge: Right-Fit Evidence for the Social Sector

by Mary Kay Gugerty, Dean Karlan

The social sector provides services to a wide range of people throughout the world with the aim of creating social value. While doing good is great, doing it well is even better. These organizations, whether nonprofit, for-profit, or public, increasingly need to demonstrate that their efforts are making a positive impact on the world, especially as competition for funding and other scarce resources increases. This heightened focus on impact is learning whether we are making a difference enhances our ability to address pressing social problems effectively and is critical to wise stewardship of resources. Yet demonstrating efficacy remains a big hurdle for most organizations.

The Goldilocks Challenge provides a parsimonious framework for measuring the strategies and impact of social sector organizations. A good data strategy starts first with a sound theory of change that helps organizations decide what elements they should monitor and measure. With a theory of change providing solid underpinning, the Goldilocks framework then puts forward four key principles, the CART C redible data that are high quality and analyzed appropriately, A ctionable data will actually influence future decisions; R esponsible data create more benefits than costs; and T ransportable data build knowledge that can be used in the future and by others.

Mary Kay Gugerty and Dean Karlan combine their extensive experience working with nonprofits, for-profits and government with their understanding of measuring effectiveness in this insightful guide to thinking about and implementing evidence-based change. This book is an invaluable asset for nonprofit, social enterprise and government leaders, managers, and funders-including anyone considering making a charitable contribution to a nonprofit-to ensure that these organizations get it "just right" by knowing what data to collect, how to collect it, how it can be analyzed, and drawing implications from the analysis. Everyone who wants to make positive change should focus on the top using data to learn, innovate, and improve program implementation over time. Gugerty and Karlan show how.

Genres: Nonfiction, International Development

312 pages, Hardcover

Published May 1, 2018

Reviews

[Sophie Pesek · Rating 4 out of 5]

The evidence-based theory behind this book seemed sound, but my favorite parts were the case studies. I started this book after (many arduous!) interviews for a job with the authors, so I had to work through some bitterness over the rejection before I could finally bring myself to finish it.

[Pablo Sarmiento · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you work with the non-profit sector or in any social impact-related job, I highly recommend reading this. It was so boring, so dryly written, it is basically a textbook. But it is very very useful. It teaches the basics of Theories of Change and how to tie them into Monitoring and Evaluation metrics. It offers a great framework on how to determine when Impact Evaluation projects are more wasteful to be undertaken, and when you should focus more on Monitoring metrics instead. In general it's a very useful book on how to gather and structure Monitoring and Evaluation metrics and I am so happy I read it. If this is related to your job then this is a must read. If you are just looking for a general interest book in social impact, do not read this because you will be so bored.

[Gayle L. Gifford · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lot to like about this book. It is an excellent explanation of evaluation for social sector nonprofits. I particularly like its attention to Theory of Change, and to monitoring the implementation of your programming. The case studies, however, are all international organizations, which may limit some reception to the book. I'm also wondering how helpful this will be to folks in the arts and in conservation organizations.

[Jeni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think everyone working in the social sector/international development should read this book.

[Brandie Banner Shackelford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should be required reading for those working in non-profit program implementation/management/ monitoring & evaluation.