How Do We Know: Good Ideas About Creating Impact

How do we know if we’re making a difference? It’s a question that’s been in the spotlight for some time now within the nonprofit sector – and one that can be particularly challenging when it comes to assessing the impact of social issues through art and media. In her inaugural post on the beta site, How Do We Know If We’re Making a Difference, Ellen Schneider, Director of Active Voice Lab, charts the journey she’s been on since she passed out a postcard at Sundance two years ago with the simple prompt: You Know Your Film is Making a Difference When…

Ellen’s reflections provide a window into the curiosity, rigor, and nuance that mark her thinking about the question of impact and the different perspectives that creatives and funders bring to bear on it. Her post also serves as an invitation to interact with the new How Do You Know site, which is chock full of useful and provocative resources, questions, and ideas that I think will resonate not only with those working in or funding media, but anyone working in fields where results are not easily captured or measured. And speaking of resonating, I can’t help but quote a couple of nuggets from How Do We Know that certainly resonate with us here at TWI:

• Our big picture vision is to build trusting, long-term relationships across sectors that share common goals – even when that means recognizing the existence of uncomfortable situations and power dynamics.

• At the heart of it all is our ultimate passion and goal: to effectively work toward a more just and equitable world.