Understanding Fear
Most of us are familiar with the use of scare tactics in American politics. Take a close look at some of the campaign ads airing right now and you’ll know what we mean. The Center for American Progress and U.S. in the World focus on these and
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Archives for blog topic “Evaluation Theory and Methods”
Sep 09 2011
Aug 05 2011
A Question of Trust
WAND offered a webinar with the Demos Institute on “Making the case for government”—a timely topic. As pollster Stanley Greenberg argued in the New York Times, the debt ceiling crisis was driven in part by declining public trust in government’s
Jul 22 2011
Lessons from Education
While many of us are worried about the debt ceiling crisis and the flailing economy, recent headlines in several major newspapers including The Washington Post and The New York Times are directing our attention to the dismal state of our public education
Jun 24 2011
Grassroots Advocacy
We know from experience that InterAction's Advocacy Evaluation series, sponsored by their Evaluation and Program Effectiveness Working Group and the International Advocacy Evaluation Community of Practice, is a fantastic resource to learn
Jun 17 2011
What's Your Impact? A Deceptively Simple Question
The Hewlett Foundation's "Charting Impact" project is a collaborative effort between three leading organizations to help nonprofits reflect on their own work. This year, Independent Sector, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, and GuideStar have joined forces
Jun 03 2011
The Elusive Craft of Evaluating Advocacy
We were intrigued that the Stanford Social Innovation Review’s summer edition featured a cover story on advocacy evaluation. Steven Teles & Mark Schmitt describe the complex nature of political processes and make the case for funding advocacy.
Feb 25 2011
By Paul L. Sparks
Budget Wars, Yes, But it Could be Worse
Wisconsin’s budget battle has become a flashpoint in the broader partisan and philosophical conflict over U.S. government priorities. Despite general agreement that compromise is the preferred path, legislators at the
Feb 18 2011
By Paul L. Sparks
No One Likes Bed Nets Anyway
With all the deficit talk in Washington lately, it’s no surprise that Ron Paul is going after an easy target: US Foreign Aid. It was the least popular spending measure among Americans polled for a recent Pew study. But wait a sec… U.S. assistance
Jan 21 2011
By Paul L. Sparks
United Citizens against Citizens United
How about a “Democracy Super-PAC” to combat corporate campaign finance? Might sound crazy, might sound hypocritical, but to Gideon Rosenblatt, it sounds like a good start. Whatever one feels about the merits of Rosenblatt's
Jan 14 2011
By Paul L. Sparks
ATEST Promotes Human Trafficking Awareness
When an issue needs a boost in salience, carefully timed and placed paid media is an appealing option—resources permitting. Case in point: this week Humanity United’s Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST) coalition took the opportunity of
