evaluation

On Community Transformation and Engagement... read more »

• We know that cities and communities are constantly changing and we often attributethe change to economic factors (think Detroit) or specific circumstantial or environmental factors (think New Orleans), but a blog post from nuPolis argues that there are intentional cultural factors that lead a community to change as well.   According to the article there are three dynamics – shared vision and goals, social engagement, and systemic improvement – that, if unleashed, have the potential to fundamentally change a community.  It is by unleashing these cultural components that communities can address issues such as economic capacity, poverty levels, and increased interaction with a larger region.

Top Trends:

On Nonprofit Collaboration...

• The objection to nonprofit collaboration has always been that “we’re all competing for a limited pool of resources.”  This is true, Debra Askanase of the Community Organizer 2.0 blog states, but it is also true that cooperation makes that pool larger; collaboration brings in more traffic, clients and funding sources which benefits nonprofits and their causes.  We are in a new world in which coopetition (cooperative competition) is becoming the norm.

On Evaluation... read more »

• Donors looking to make donations to non-profit organizations have recently been encouraged to look at program evaluation in order to measure the organization’s impact rather than looking at financial ratios.  However, PhilanTopic publishes a post explaining that while it is true that program evaluation is important, financial evaluation is important as well.  An organization’s financial stability, its ability to service any debt it has and how much money it has raised in excess of expenses can be learned from financial evaluation; all of these should be important factors for donors when deciding which organization they would like to donate to.

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On Evaluation... read more »

• There has been a debate recently about whether it is more effective to evaluate non-profit organizations on an individual basis or whether it is better to evaluate overall community impact (meaning the measurement would reflect the work of multiple nonprofits, community organizations, etc.).  There is a general consensus that while measuring overall community impact is more important, it is also more difficult to measure.  In her blog, Heather Carpenter  adds that when researches and consultants study evaluation and impact within nonprofits, it is important that they use evaluation tools that the nonprofits can use themselves.  This, she says, is the first step to conducting larger, community-wide impact studies.

At a recent Bay Area Learning Circle facilitated by Claire Reinelt, LLC’s Evaluation and Research Director, we convened a group of local LLC members to discuss some of the challenges and successes they have seen in their areas of work, in relationship to collective and networked leadership.  As I listened closely to the participants, I was struck by the various struggles they face, particularly around defining and articulating ‘successes’, and evaluating the impact of their efforts – not only to respond to funders’ demands but also to internal demands. read more »

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On Social Impact and Investment... read more »

• A new initiative, Social Impact Exchange, from Growth Philanthropy Network and Duke University has been launched.  Social Impact Exchange is a “focal point for studying, funding and implementing large expansions of proven social purpose organizations.”  It offers an “investment clearinghouse” of the most effective nonprofit organizations.  Sean Stannard-Stockton, of Tactical Philanthropy, comments on the Clearinghouse and how it is similar to the stock exchange; the most relevant aspect of the stock market which also applies to philanthropy, he says, is that the stock market has certain ongoing requirements that organizations must adhere to.

The Leadership Development Investment Framework is a tool developed to assist funders, program staff, and evaluators clarify the purposes of leadership development and capacity-building supports. In 2008, we partnered with United Way Toronto to adapt the original Leadership Development Investment Framework that was produced by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations in 2005.  The tool was useful in assisting the United Way and other leadership funders in Canada to become more intentional about where they are currently investing resources, where there are gaps in investment, and how they might work together to maximize the impact of their resources. Grady McGonagill adapted the framework further by adding the dimension of teams and team building capacity as part of a study for the Bertelsmann Foundation.

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On Evaluation and Storytelling… read more »

• Evaluating an organization or a program does not only involve quantitative data, numbers and statistics but it also involves personal connections and stories.  To effectively conduct evaluations – especially in the nonprofit and philanthropic worlds (since they tend to revolve around people and their interests) – evaluators must spend time in the field with the organization and the people the organization works with and/or helps.  Trust is key here as is creativity.
• Foundations, along with grant seekers and evaluators need to tell their stories.  Because “foundations are in the business of improving people’s lives”, as the Communications Network Blog reports, they need to tell those stories of improvement in order to advance change.