Guest post by Laura Callanan, Consultant, Social Sector Office, McKinsey and Company

In 2010, McKinsey & Company released the findings from our Learning for Social Impact initiative. The importance of a learning culture was highlighted as critical to making social impact assessment successful within an organization.

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Guest blog post by Pamela Acosta Marquardt, Founder and Director of Donor Relations of Pancreatic Cancer Action Network

We tend to think of data as merely the facts and figures that represent our cause. But when taken and wrapped in our passionate stories, that data becomes an emotional pitch by which we engage others.

Stories have served many purposes over time. Some stories help record history. Some create timelines. Others serve to engage their listeners in a way that compels them to action. Those are the stories that we must become masters at telling. We need to become experts at sharing our causes in such a personal and passionate way that our audiences recognize opportunities to become heroes and feel compelled to take steps to make a difference. I use my story to make the data compelling and actionable to the audiences I’m trying to reach.

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Guest Post by Dan Siroker, Co-Founder & CEO, Optimizely, Inc.

Data has gone Big. The last year has seen explosive growth in the amount of new data created and has brought into the mainstream the reality of our ever-growing, globally connected digital world.
Last year, an IDC and EMC study projected 1.8 zettabytes of data were expected to be created and replicated in 2011. For some perspective, as Mashable published, this is equivalent to 57.5 billion 32GB iPads packed full of data (which evidently could be stacked to 25 times as high as Mt. Fuji). Needless to say, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.

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Guest Post by David Kroodsma

Anyone poking around online newspapers has noticed a proliferation of info-graphics and maps. If these graphics are done well, they can tell a story much more quickly than a series of paragraphs. Introducing data journalism – the newest form of online communication, and also a great way to get eyeballs on your website. For much of 2011, I worked as a data journalist for Climate Central, where I attempted to tell stories about climate change and energy through both articles and data-driven graphics.

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Guest post by Jacqueline Quintanilla Aker, Senior Vice President, Health & Multicultural Marketing at Edelman

Every public engagement campaign should be grounded in research data. Impact is built on the foundation of learning and understanding your audience, and on achieving real, measurable change. Data allows us to develop strategies that can change behaviors, influence opinions, motivate a community to action, and shift social norms. Data enables an organization to deliver the right message, at the right time, in the right place, and from the right messenger – a trusted source with the power to persuade action. This is done by listening to your audience and identifying the best way to reach them, whether it’s through an article in a newspaper, an event in their local community, or an online social community.

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