Charities and funders are tackling difficult issues with limited resources: trying to improve people’s lives, tackle injustices, change government policies and help cure diseases. We need to use evidence effectively to understand what works and to, in turn, achieve our missions.

There is a growing engagement with both the idea of undertaking evaluation and the need to use existing evidence. But true progress is patchy. We need better practices around how evidence is collected, used, and shared—known as an ‘evidence journey’. We need changes in infrastructure to support this.

It is possible for us to make progress in the way we use evidence of what works. Doing so will be fundamental to the social sector achieving its potential.

Read the full article by Anne Kazimirski, James Noble, Satdeep Grewal and Tris Lumley about the social sector from New Philanthropy Capital