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Exploring Foundation Capacity: Why Does it Matter and What Do We Know: Preliminary Results from the Foundation Core Capacity Assessment Tool

Type: Speaking Engagement

Exploring Foundation Capacity: Why Does it Matter and What Do We Know: Preliminary Results from the Foundation Core Capacity Assessment Tool

For many years, the social sector has paid substantial attention to the issue of nonprofit effectiveness, and numerous diagnostic tools exist to help nonprofits assess and build their capacity strengths toward these ends. By contrast, comparatively little attention has been paid to the capacities foundations need to achieve impact. What capacities are essential to advancing … Continued

Effectively Supporting Education Through Evaluation and Learning

Moving toward equity in education requires a fundamental shift in the way resources are allocated and public policies are made. Investing in advocacy for educational equity can be a powerful funding strategy. However, measuring the impact of advocacy investments can be challenging. Join us for a discussion of how evaluation of advocacy efforts can surface … Continued

Is What’s New Always “Shiny” and Better?

Nonprofits are constantly challenged to bring up something new or innovative to funders to grab their attention. How do you decide to stick with what you’re good at or to experiment with new ways, especially when the bets are high for your organization and your stakeholders? Speakers Julie Simpson, Director, Nonprofit Strategy & Capacity Building, … Continued

Sway the Other Branches of Government

Federal policymaking is not limited to the halls of Congress. The decisions made in executive branch agencies and the court system about the interpretation, enforcement, and implementation of public policies touch every part of daily life in America. Learn effective strategies to influence critical decisions in the other two branches of government. Speakers Bari Talente, … Continued

Capacity Building 3.0: Building Sustainable Learning Communities for Effective Public Health Delivery

Funders of public health organizations are striving to be more effective as the number of foundations, public and regulatory scrutiny, and demands for accountability have increased. As a growing number of grantmakers seek higher performance for nonprofits, many also realize they could do a better job “practicing what they preach,” especially in regards to planning, … Continued

Approaching Engagement and Audience Strategically

Engagement activities at stations run the gamut from book clubs to specialized mobile apps, from town hall forums to social media campaigns. In this session we’ll take a big step back from the “what” of engagement (you’ll find plenty of details in other sessions) and focus on the “why” and “how.” Why invest in engagement … Continued

2016 American Evaluation Association Annual International Conference

Wednesday October 26 4:30-6:00pm: AEA GEDI 2016 Panel: Lessons Learned on Culturally Responsive Evaluation The Graduate Education Diversity Internship (GEDI) scholars will discuss lessons learned on cultural competence and culturally responsive evaluation (CRE) from their year-long program experiences. Panelists will discuss learning opportunities in CRE provided by the GEDI program, how they were able to … Continued

Strengthening the Social Sector Ecosystem

The social sector is evolving beyond a framework of individual or organizational capacity to an ecosystem approach to solving complex community problems. Jared and Julie will highlight specific, Texas-based groups that are employing this ecosystem approach and seeing powerful results. Learn to assess the capacity of nonprofits using an ecosystem lens and how funders, the … Continued

Public-Private Partnerships: Risks and Opportunities for the Human Rights Movement

The aim of this session will be to help funders explore the potential of public-private partnerships for human rights, addressing how to assess opportunities to shift the needle on systemic issues, overcome challenges, and achieve specific partnership goals. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of the governance and accountability challenges of public-private partnerships, what … Continued