This guest post was contributed by Kelly Fitzsimmons, Founder and Managing Partner, of Project Evident. Kelly and her team are committed to working with funders and the organizations they support to strengthen their data and evidence-building agendas to make a greater impact in the world through more effective programs.
In the private sector, as the pace of innovation has accelerated, so too has the use of data to drive decision-making. The for-profit sector has long embraced technology and tools to capture and use data to better serve their customers. Less so in the social sector, where such tools, talent, and technology have largely not made it into the hands of practitioners (a "last mile problem"). At the same time, there is increasing demand for programs that produce real outcomes for communities, yet many of these programs do not have access to the resources needed to research and develop those outcomes.
Individual donors are a powerful force for promoting better research and development, or R&D, practices and ensuring that the social sector is not left behind in our rapidly evolving world. As you think about your next charitable contributions or your role as a board member with a nonprofit organization, here are five tips to help close this critical gap for those causes you care most about.
