Whether in business (seeking financial returns) or in philanthropy (seeking social returns), we always need to measure how well we're doing. But working with the right metrics is easier said than done.

What are we measuring and why? How are we defining success? How do the answers to these questions impact giving and field growth? These are just a few of the questions we will explore in this luncheon discussion.

Panel:

Michael Weinstein, PhD, Chief Program Officer of the Robin Hood Foundation, will detail the disciplined system that Robin Hood has developed over years to maximize impact of its grantees.

Judith Samuels, PhD, Managing Director for the Impact and Performance Assessment Department at UJA-Federation of New York, will elaborate on the importance of metrics in the Jewish community specifically, along with the Jewish Evaluation Network initiative that her team recently launched. 

Moderator: Gary Rosenblatt, Editor and Publisher, The Jewish Week

Event sponsor: Mark Pearlman, JFN member and business strategist. A devotee of transparency, efficiency and accountability in philanthropy, Mark was a creator of The Jewish Week's "Jewish GDP Project," which seeks to help organize and frame an intelligent/informed discussion on our community’s finances and performance. The January 12th event is part of this Jewish Week initiative. For background on the Jewish GDP, please refer to articles by Edieal Pinker, Jack Ukeles, Jeffrey Solomon, Seth Chalmer, and Mark Pearlman.