At a recent conference for nonprofit organizations in Washington, foundations and grant makers suggested that nonprofits may have better luck soliciting funding if they find ways to talk about what their organizations do and whom they serve with more than just numbers. Jeff Mason, VP of Social Solutions, said ETO can help nonprofits take that tack.

Jeff Mason, VP of Social Solutions and chair of the Alliance for Effective Social Investing, writes about the responsibility of nonprofit donors to become social investors.

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The Latin American Youth Center and numerous other nonprofits across the country are starting to invest in performance management software with a human-services twist. Scores are turning to Social Solutions, a fast-growing company designing software that helps nonprofits document their efforts and results in great detail.

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Ingvild Bjornvold, Director of Advocacy for Social Solutions, writes on why "Organizations that provide meaningful performance data to support anecdotal stories of success have an incredible competitive advantage."

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Social Solutions ranked No.15 in Baltimore - Towson, MD

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Washington Times - "For Steve Butz, that special talent was working one on one with troubled Maryland juveniles. But the former social worker, like many, set aside his personal desire to help one child at a time to develop a system that he hopes will serve many more."

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NTEN - "When it comes to determining how effective programs and organizations are, anecdotes don't tell the whole story. Many programs, when evaluated, have been shown to be ineffective or have negative outcomes. In the absence of systematically collected data, nobody would ever know."

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Washington Times - "For Steve Butz, that special talent was working one on one with troubled Maryland juveniles. But the former social worker, like many, set aside his personal desire to help one child at a time to develop a system that he hopes will serve many more."

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Alliance Magazine - Believing that the most effective organizations are those that actively manage their performance, Steve Butz (Founder, Social Solutions) and David Hunter (Hunter Consulting) created the Guide to Effective Social Investing...

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NPR - With a tight economy, many people want to make sure their donations are spent wisely. Some nonprofits are leading an effort to identify which charities give the most bang for the buck. Steve Butz, Founder and President of Social Solutions, is leading an effort to get nonprofits to be more accountable.

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The New Jersey Star-Ledger - "As people are realizing the value of every dollar they are spending this season, the same should ring true when it comes to charitable donations," says Steve Butz, founder of Social Solutions, a company that creates software to help charities and other organizations monitor performance.

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Baltimore Business Journal - The federal government is helping about 6,500 Gulf Coast families who lost their homes or income in hurricanes Ike and Gustav earlier this year, and it’s doing it through Baltimore software firm Social Solutions.

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Washington Post - "An alliance of prominent philanthropists and entrepreneurs is developing a rating system that they hope will radically alter the way donors evaluate whether a charity is worth their money..."

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NPR | WAMU interviews Steve Butz on, "The pay is mediocre, the work is stressful and the hours are long. So what, if anything, should be done to encourage good social service workers to stay in the profession? One man thinks hard, cold cash might do the trick -- and he's set up a Baltimore-based foundation to find and reward those who excel in his former profession. We'll explore this reward system and discuss the state of social work in the United States."
(Link goes to audio file)

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The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports on how Social Solutions founder Steve Butz, a former charity employee, "is leading an effort to encourage social service charities to assess their performance. It has attracted attention from prominent players in the nonprofit world — many of whom have witnessed philanthropy's numerous failed attempts to spur better measurement of results."

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Fast Company - ..."So when it comes to securing funds, non-profits have to be smart. One of the most common solutions is finding transparent ways to assure donors that their money is being put to good use. That's where companies like 8-year old Baltimore based Social Solutions come in."

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From Cleveland's The Plain Dealer - If you are a superstar in the field of social services, the Superstar Foundation of Baltimore is looking for you. The newly launched foundation wants to reward five superstars with $2,000 to recognize the "highest performing" social-service professionals and to encourage them to keep up the good work and stay in the field. Applicants will be judged in five categories, including family services and youth development. The founder of the Superstar Foundation is Steve Butz, the president and chief executive of Social Solutions, a company that provides nonprofits with software to measure their effectiveness.

WYPR, Maryland 's NPR News Station - Social Solutions Founder and President Steve Butz is interviewed about how his Superstar Foundation's grants to outstanding direct service providers may actually motivate the ‘not-in-it-for-the-money’ set.

The link below will take you to the audio recording (13 minutes).

Baltimore Sun - Stephen Butz has a soft spot for people in trouble, reflecting a social conscience instilled by his mother. It led him to spend years serving in nonprofits, focusing on kids in particular. It was satisfying work for the most part, but for this: There was too little accountability, he said.

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The Chronicle of Philanthropy - Steve Butz, A former charity employee turned software entrepreneur, has started a foundation to recognize talented social-service workers and goad nonprofit groups into more effectively measuring their employees’ performance.

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Baltimore Sun - David Butz, CTO at Social Solutions and a volunteer at Meals on Wheels, is quoted in this article on how higher gas and food costs are placing a burden on charitable organizations.

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SandHill.com - Social Solutions challenges and equips human service providers and their funders to turn good intent into measurable change by relating efforts to outcomes. The company’s ETO (Efforts to Outcomes) performance management software replaces one-size-fits-all data tracking solutions with a reporting system tailored to the unique mission of each nonprofit organization.

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Venture Deal - Software company Social Solutions said that it has raised its series A funding in the amount of $2.75 million.

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Digital Harbor Online - Social Solutions, a developer of performance management technology to the non-profit sector, announced last week that it has received $2.75 million in funding from
IDEA Fund Partners.

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Tech Journal South - Social Solutions, a Baltimore-based seller of performance management technology to the non-profit sector, has received additional funding from IDEA Fund Partners.

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Dow Jones Venture Wire - To move into more regional markets, Social Solutions Inc., a developer of software for performance management at non-profits, has closed the last tranche of a $2.75 million Series A round.

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Potomac TechWire - Social Solutions, a Baltimore-based provider of performance management
technology to the nonprofit sector, said on Thursday that it has raised $2.75 million in its
first round of funding from WWC Capital Group and IDEA Fund Partners.

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Founder Steve Butz shares why good intentions often end up paving roads to hopelessness among nonprofits. A big part of the answer lies in the reality that many human service organizations have not adequately tied their laudable efforts to measurable, desired outcomes. Published by Social Work Today and Just Cause.

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An editorial (see page 8) in the Job Training and Placement Report.   The editorial offers  advice for improving organizational performance and impact.

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Social Solutions, a software firm whose products are designed to help nonprofit groups track
their effectiveness, is adding an office in New York and services to help agencies manage large databases of information about their projects.

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Social Solutions, a technology startup that offers software specially designed for nonprofit organizations, was recognized as one of the nation's most outstanding incubator tenants Wednesday.

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