Knowledge Items

June 2025 Read the report here Authors: Catherine Clark & Kimberly Bardy LangsamProduced by: CASE at Duke in collaboration with Impact Frontiers Overview:Impact ratings are often seen as a first step toward integrated impact-financial analysis—but they are far more than that. In this new report, More Than a Starting Point, CASE at Duke explores how 14 impact investing […]

by Marlee Margolin, WEMBA 2025 Corporate Social Impact can be a confusing landscape, especially given recent tailwinds against ESG, DEI, and related societal issues. With many companies currently retreating from impact commitments, I’ve grown curious about the opposite scenario. I’ve recently been asking myself: What factors lead companies to make an investment in positive societal […]

While some may cringe when we bring up “theory of change” or “logic model,” we find that it’s often the secret ingredient for driving impact … when used to its full potential! In this video in our Impact Explained series, we give three pieces of advice to use this powerful tool to identify and test […]

While our first-year MBAs are drinking from the fire hose their first few months at Fuqua, we still find ways to engage them in timely topics and discussions across the impact economy – including through our Rising Impact Leader workshop series.  Here we share some of our reflections from a great discussion in October 2024 […]

Using Data to Power Scale discusses how social enterprises can use data to identify opportunities to innovate in order to achieve more impact at scale, and how enterprises can then use data to systematically test these innovations – including setting key success criteria alongside early indicators of success. Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity, […]

Financing New Approaches to Scale discusses four common strategies social enterprises pursue to support the design and testing of innovations to support impact at scale. Meg Rudy of the DRK Foundation brings advice and perspective from the funder worldview, and Carter Clark of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Crescent Region (SC) shares hard […]

Creating an Innovation Culture to Drive Scale offers key elements for leaders to consider in creating an enabling environment for innovation and managing people and culture through the design and execution of innovations. The session features a conversation with Maria Kim, President and CEO of venture philanthropy REDF, who shares her insights from decades of […]

In Innovating to Scaled Impact CASE Executive Director Erin Worsham shares foundational concepts and considerations around innovation and scaling impact, and engages in conversation with Beth Anderson, Executive Director of the Hill Learning Center, on the realities of innovating to scaled impact within an educational nonprofit. Download our one-page summary of highlights from the session. […]

CASE’s Scaling Readiness Diagnostic is the training plan you need to keep you focused and prepared for what’s ahead on your scaling journey. This free diagnostic tool provides you with significant insights into the seven critical elements for scale readiness. Spend less than 30 minutes answering questions in each of these seven areas, then immediately […]

Taking a social or environmental solution from initial success to scale is a complicated journey, especially if you’re committed to scaling your IMPACT – and not just your organizational footprint. Through years of research, we at CASE see four main pathways that successful social enterprises pursue on the road to impact at scale, often in […]