In a recent op-ed, The New York Times described today’s state of poverty and society’s gradual but evident steps towards progress to amend it. Although the issue of poverty has yet to be resolved, progress in repairing social problems has emerged in several identified areas. The report breaks this down into three categories.
First, organizations have begun to examine their individual effect by acknowledging both successes and failures through increased and improved study of their programmatic impact.
Second, organizations are more inclined to analyze their levels of progress and weakness if they receive government or foundation funding contingent on their performance. Here the social impact bond (SIB) emerges as a key tool in determining success and effectiveness. Social Finance, a nonprofit that works closely with AISP, has worked to implement pay-for-success deals. Additionally, the article points out that the Coalition for Evidence Based Policy, an organization that AISP also works intimately with, is currently advancing low-cost Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) through a request for proposal that will fund several low-cost RCTs to showcase their ability to drive successful social spending.
Third, smaller organizations are trying to increase their impact through more cost-effective and attainable methods, such as merging or collaborating with larger organizations.
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