- Value [1] Information
- More Information, More Insight, Better Decisions -- Imagine a sector where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Where experiences, learning, and views are shared freely and easily, enabling better decisions, better actions, and better
results. The image above depicts a vision for a more efficient social sector. It is a system in which beneficiaries have a
voice; nonprofits and social businesses have information and feedback on their programs and activities so they can learn,
adapt and scale; and in turn, funders have - and use - the information they need to make informed investments, grants, and
donations. In addition, other stakeholders, such as policy makers, researchers, multilaterals, consultants, and board members,
can access information to inform their own decisions. In this system stakeholders have easy access to the information they
need to make important decisions, and feedback loops foster a system of continual learning and improvement.
- Value [2] Insight
- Value [3] Shared Knowledge
- Centered on a System of Shared Knowledge -- The key difference between today's system and the vision of the future above is
the presence of connected information and knowledge that operates at the heart of the sector. Whereas today the sector experienceslimited
supply and demand for information, in the future the sector will benefit from the free flow of quality, accessible information,
assisting and engaging all stakeholders. Information on social issues, interventions, organizations, and resources, generated
by different types of organizations, from nonprofits to the government to multilaterals to beneficiaries themselves, will
be connected and accessible. Individually this information is useful. Cross-referenced and connected, it is potentially transformative
in its ability to allow stakeholders to make better decisions about budgets, strategies, services, policies, and more.
- Value [4] Information Infrastructure
- Information Infrastructure Will Help Enable the Free Flow of Quality Information -- Information infrastructure will help convert
the many disparate pieces of data into useable information and knowledge, assisting in the free flow of quality, accessible
data and information, and leading to a more effective social sector. Standards for structuring and organizing data will make
it easier and more convenient for organizations to provide information, helping to increase supply. It will also make data
more available, accessible, consistent, clear, timely, and useable. Further, as more quality data is shared, it will become
easier to add value to the data - through aggregation, visualization, and other forms of synthesis. All this will make it
easier to use information productively, helping to increase demand. As supply and demand increase and more information flows
freely, it will become easier for information to be integrated into the processes and operations of organizations throughout
the sector, and become more common in decision-making. This will impact not only nonprofits and social businesses, but foundations
looking for new opportunities, impact investors searching for investments, beneficiaries seeking to provide feedback, government
officers trying to craft effective policy, and countless others.
- Value [5] Markets
- Other Markets Demonstrate the Value a Functioning Information Infrastructure -- Examples of how structured and organized data
facilitate the flow of information are evident in other markets. In the financial markets data aggregators like Bloomberg
and Thomson Reuters, rating agencies like Morningstar and S&P, and standard bodies like FASB all help facilitate the flow
of quality information, and create important feedback loops between businesses and investors. In the world of consumer products
and services, organizations like Yelp provide a means for users to provide reviews, leading to better feedback for businesses,
and better information for consumers. In healthcare, Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) allow for more accurate, transferable,
real time information on patients. This helps providers do their jobs better, improves patient safety and satisfaction, and
reduces costsin hospitals, laboratories, and other medical facilities. The use of Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) in
the automotive industry allows companies like CARFAX to track data to a specific vehicle, even as it changes owners, allowing
dealers, repair shops, consumers, auction houses, and watch-dog groups to make more informed decisions. And Amazon.com and
other retailers use ISBN numbers to organize book inventories. This allows Amazon to link many types of information together,
including detailed product information, external multimedia, expert reviews, customer reviews, links to similar products,
the capacity for simple and accurate transactions, and more. While the economics of creating these standards are going to
be different in the social sector (e.g., the relatively limited demand for data would not allow an organization to generate
$630 million in annual revenues like Morningstar), it is still illustrative to understand how better standards for collecting,
reporting, and transmitting data allows markets to operate effectively, and how similar structures and feedback loops could
help the social sector.
- Value [6] Transformation
- Better information flows could transform the sector. A social sector powered by information will lead to a more efficient
sector where capital flows more easily and programs and services are more effective. This will lead, in turn, to greater impact
and greater evidence of that impact.
- Value [7] Capital Flows
- Capital Flows More Effectively and Easily -- More money to the best organizations. While much of charitable giving is "emotional"
and will not be influenced by more data, research by Hope Consulting shows that foundations and donors in the U.S. alone are
willing to give $15 billion (5% of total giving) annually to higher-performing nonprofits if they have trustworthy information
on impact.2 Less expensive to move money. A study by McKinsey & Company shows that nonprofits spend ~3x the amount of money
on fundraising and marketing than do private companies on a per-dollar basis. Better information and the growth of effective
intermediaries could reduce that burden. Halving these costs could unlock more than $20 billion each year in the U.S. alone.
- Value [8] Effectiveness
- Programs and Services Are More Effective and Innovative -- Better programs and services. Connected, accessible information
will allow organizations to hear the voice of their constituents and participants, evaluate and benchmark their performance,
learn about other approaches, and make better decisions about strategy and operations. This will lead to more impact by organizations,
and more collective impact in the sector. New and expanded programs and services. Better information can shed light on unmet
needs and gaps in services. Brand new innovations. Better information can enable creative thinking and the development of
innovative solutions.
- Value [9] Innovation
- Value [10] Learning
- The Sector Learns, Adapts, and Operates Even More Dynamically -- Continuous learning. A sector with good information can continually
learn, adapt, and progress.
- Value [11] Adaptation
- Value [12] Nonredundancy
- Less redundancy, more accuracy. Today, many organizations conduct the same processes of scrubbing and mapping data.
- Value [13] Accuracy
- Value [14] Consistent Formats
- Information in consistent formats will greatly reduce these needs and lead to fewer redundant exercises and more accurate
data.
- Value [15] Connections
- More connected. Consistent and useable information makes it possible for a range of organizations - from nonprofit intermediaries
to financial service organizations to search engines to social media sites - to access, link to, and provide value-added services
like visualizations, trend analysis, or impact evaluations.
- Value [16] Value-Added Services
- Value [17] Visualizations
- Value [18] Trend Analysis
- Value [19] Impact Evaluations
- Value [20] Stakeholders
- Benefits to Stakeholders Throughout the System -- The benefits of a sector powered by information can be seen in the lives
of stakeholders who interact with the sector every day ...
- Value [21] Collaboration
- Collaborating towards a better future. The social sector needs to improve the flow of high-quality, accessible information.
- Value [22] Structured Information
- That starts with structuring information so it can be easier for organizations to supply meaningful data, to add value to
that data, and to use that data to make better decisions.
- Value [23] High Performance
- This will help enable more informed and efficient capital flows, higher-performing organizations, more effective interventions,
and greater social impact.
- Value [24] Interventions
- Value [25] Social Impact
- Value [26] Discussion
- The Markets For Good initiative hopes to spur this discussion, and to identify and fund the initiatives with the greatest
potential to move the sector forward. This is a complex space. No one has all the answers, and many perspectives are needed
to make this initiative a success.
- Value [27] Engagement
- The best way to participate is to engage in this dialogue, and contribute ideas and perspectives.
- Value [28] Dialogue
- Value [29] Ideas
- Value [30] Perspectives
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