Next Cafe Scientifique: Measuring the Networked Nonprofit
Beth Kanter is the author of Beth’s Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media for Social Change, Visiting Scholar at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation 2009-2013, and internationally recognized speaker and trainer. She is co-author of the highly acclaimed book, The Networked Nonprofit, published by Wiley in 2010, with Allison Fine and the recently published, “Measuring the Networked Nonprofit,” with co-author KD Paine.
Beth will be speaking at our next Cafe Scientifique on Thursday, November 15th.
I’m thrilled to announce the publication of my second book, “Measuring the Networked Nonprofit: Using Data to Change the World,” with co-author and measurement goddess KD Paine. The book is about how nonprofits can measure and improve results from leveraging their networks. The frameworks and tips we outlined were field tested in real-time as part of my work as Visiting Scholar at the Packard Foundation with 60 of their grantees who participated in a peer learning/focus group and contributed many of the case studies.
The book also has a social good purpose. I am donating my royalties to support the Sharing Foundations college education program for young people in Cambodia. My family is sponsoring Keo Savon, who we met this summer in Cambodia. She is a second year engineering student and by supporting her education she will have better economic opportunities. By purchasing a book, you will not only help your nonprofit improve its program impact, but you will changing the lives for young people in Cambodia.
I’m blessed that I am able to combine my passion for teaching nonprofits how to embrace networking for social change results with my desire to make the work a better place. As many of you already know, I have been raising money for a decade for the Sharing Foundation that supports young people in Cambodia. I’ve done this through social media, winning some of the early online fundraising contests. I also donated my share of the royalties from my first book, The Networked Nonprofit, to support the Sharing Foundation’s college education fund. The money went to support students like Maneth, an IT major who now teaches computer lessons in the orphanage where my children lived.
We are honored to have Laura Arrillaga-Andreesen, author of Giving 2.0, write the foreword and it articulates from the donor perspective why nonprofits need to embrace measurement and learning.
I could not have written this book alone, especially as a reformed measurement phobic. KD Paine taught me the joy that is measurement. We were also lucky to have a talented editor, William T. Paarlberg, who guided us in the polishing and revising stage and who made us go through a 10-draft revision process for each chapter. We had an all-star team of nonprofit, philanthropy, and measurement experts as peer reviewers who helped make the book more useful.
To help those who need to learn to laugh at measurement, not fear it, I commissioned Rob Cottingham to create cartoons that capture the essence of each chapter’s advice. (There were numerous times when I snorted my latte from laughing so hard!). The early reviews are starting to come in and, like these two from Simon Mainwaring and Geri Stengel, capture the essence of the book.
Stay tuned to our blogs as we share more stories about how nonprofits apply the advice in the book and I’ll keep you posted on Keo Savon’s studies.
Thank you so much!