“Someone asked me yesterday how we are going to measure the success of the Say Yes to No campaign. I started to respond with an explanation of the traditional means with which we justify success in the nonprofit world, including workshop attendance, Web activity, media hits and more. All of these tools help us create a relatively accurate picture of the degree to which people across the state are participating in a project. However, while Say Yes to No can certainly be described using these tools – the numbers and statistics leave out the most important part of the story.

Say Yes to No is about starting a community conversation around success for kids. It is the first ever state-wide book read. It is a truly grassroots effort. So the real measures of success, the indicators that people are participating in the conversation, take place in schools, homes, churches, synagogues, youth centers, and libraries. The richness of these stories doesn’t show up in traditional measurements. And when we put them together they paint a more powerful picture.

So if you are participating in Say Yes to No – start listening as you walk through the bookstore, library, school, or neighborhood. Who’s talking to each other that wasn’t before? Who’s got a copy of the book in their hands? Who grabs a bag of marshmallows at the grocery store and turns to the person next to them to tell them about this experiment…? Who is starting the conversation? Who is joining in? These are the true measures of our success.