Every year during Microsoft's Give campaign, I organized a blanket-making event for shelter animals at the Nebraska Humane Society. The secret to getting people to show up? Pizza. And a miniature therapy horse named Streaker.

Most social impact teams know they have a measurement problem. Few have been set up to solve it. Here's why defining success before a campaign launches is the only way to earn the budget to do more of it.

Gaming communities don't need to be activated. They're already organized, already moving, and already motivated around things they care about. The question for brands isn't how to engage them - it's whether your cause resonates with them.