What Can Associations of Grantmakers Teach You? October 3, 2017 By Marketing Admin In mid-July of this year, I had the opportunity to attend the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers conference (#ForumCon17) in San Francisco. This conference brings together a large swath of the organizations that provide networking and support functions to foundations across the United States. I wanted to share some of my takeaways from time at the conference—some of which relate specifically to the conference and some to the valuable side conversations that happen when you bring smart, passionate people together.
6 Ways Family Foundations Can Make A Difference in Immigrant and Refugee Lives September 27, 2017 By Marketing Admin With all the changes in the political climate over the past year, I’ve been especially concerned for immigrants and refugees. Many families in my city and community have been affected by the new executive orders and administrative actions, and I’ve read stories about many others across the country that are at risk. This can feel overwhelming when I think about the impact on people I know. The issues we’re dealing with are daunting and complex; it makes me wonder how I can be most helpful.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: Are You Asking the Right Questions? September 27, 2017 By Marketing Admin As an evaluator, I have seen varying levels of commitment to using principles of DEI and acknowledge that it is not always an easy or straightforward endeavor. Here are a few clarifying points on how I frame thinking about DEI and some guiding questions to discuss when thinking about incorporating DEI in your work:
A Statement of Values to Guide Philanthropic Collaboration September 6, 2017 By Marketing Admin For the past two years, a number of the leading organizations supporting and facilitating nonprofit and philanthropic collaborations have been coming together to share experiences and perspectives. Called the Collaboration Champions, this group has collectively published dozens of papers on the topic and worked with hundreds of different collaborations. Through work together, the Collaborative Champions realized that there are some ethical principles, or values, held common in the approach to building and supporting successful collaborations. They articulate those principles here.
5 Things Foundations Say About Their Capacity July 6, 2017 By Marketing Admin Nearly 60 foundations – of all shapes and sizes – recently took the Foundation Core Capacity Assessment Tool (FCCAT), a self-assessment measure for foundations, to better understand their strengths and challenges. Based on the recent summary report, we break down the top five noteworthy things foundations had to say.
Illustrate Your Impact Goals with Logic Model Heat Mapping July 24, 2017 By Marketing Admin The work you do in the social sector is likely unique in its mission and programs. As unique as it is, social sector organizations like yours share the common goal to “move the needle.” No matter your mission, it is important to ensure your activities are clearly aligned with your ultimate social impact goals. To that end, we have produced three videos that demonstrate how you can use logic model heat mapping to strengthen the alignment between your group’s mission and activities.
Be SMART: Designing Effective Media Campaigns (Stage 1) June 20, 2017 By Marketing Admin There are four key stages in the use of media. These stages include design, development, distribution and reflection. In this piece, we discuss the importance of design and the impact evaluation can have in this stage in creating a successful campaign, and subsequently detail the process.
Building Evaluation Capacity Across International Offices March 28, 2017 By Marketing Admin For NGOs with offices in a wide variety of geographic locations, establishing a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system that works for both the headquarters office and field offices can be a real challenge. If those offices operate in different countries, that challenge becomes even harder. Learn how Hand in Hand International (HiH), supported through Johnson & Johnson’s Healthy Futures evaluation capacity-building program, piloted a measurement framework in Eastern Africa, Afghanistan, and London that allows it to have a greater understanding of what is needed to achieve their desired impact and how that varies by region.
What Surprises Me about Human Rights Grantmaking February 15, 2017 By Marketing Admin When your job centers on helping funders assess needs, devise strategies, and manage and evaluate their grantmaking, you wish that every field would have a resource like Advancing Human Rights: Update on Global Foundation Grantmaking. Since IHRFG and Foundation Center launched this series four years ago—and added an interactive website three years ago—I have made regular use of these tools to understand levels of foundation engagement within and at the intersection of issues ranging from women’s rights in the Global South to environmental justice in the United States. This research has also been invaluable in helping the foundations I work with to see just how many peers and practitioners have aligned interests and could become partners in realizing their goals. That is why I was surprised when I sat down to read the 2017 Edition of the Advancing Human Rights report. I realized that in using these resources to answer my very specific, client-focused questions, I had been missing some findings and trends that are beginning to reshape my thinking about foundation support for human rights.
4 Tips for Culturally Responsive Programming December 16, 2016 By Marketing Admin I’ve always had an inherent appreciation for diversity – yet my training and work in the evaluation space has fostered even greater realization that diversity is a critical component to both program design and evaluation. In my work, I’ve had to assess how people are experiencing programs and whether those experiences match what was intended. Naturally, I’ve been exposed to and come to understand realities and points of view different than my own. I see this call for cultural responsiveness as being relevant to not only evaluators, but program staff as well…