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Now is the Time to Radically Reimagine Readiness

Sector: Nonprofits

Now is the Time to Radically Reimagine Readiness

A focus on “readiness”—defined as the state of being fully prepared for something—has been ubiquitous in our sector since long before COVID-19 and the national movement for racial justice. Yet, as we take cautious steps to emerge from what feels like an endless suspension of normalcy, the concept of readiness has garnered renewed attention.   At TCC Group, we have been hearing an increasing number of readiness-related questions:    Are we ready to rebuild?   Are we ready for … Continued

Equity & Evaluation in Cultural Organizations

With unprecedented attention to equity issues throughout the culture sector, how can evaluation practice in cultural organizations be equitable as well as feasible and effective? Deepti Sood, Senior Consultant, spoke at an event of the Cultural Research Network and the American Evaluation Association.

Partner-Centered Evaluation Capacity Building: Findings from a Corporate Social Impact Initiative

Funders can play a proactive role in helping to fill the gap between funders’ expectations and nonprofits’ ability to evaluate grant results. Using a partner-centered design, Johnson & Johnson piloted an evaluation capacity-building initiative that supported eight grantees in strengthening their ability to measure and use findings concerning health-related outcomes by focusing on key evaluation … Continued

Strategic Planning—Is Your Board Ready?

When considering whether to embark on a strategic planning project, there are a number of questions for an organization to consider. Have you done planning previously and, if so, how did it turn out? Will you do this yourselves or might you need an outside consultant? If the latter, do you have a budget? By … Continued

Effective Strategies to Support Advocacy Campaigns: Considerations for Funders and Advocates

This briefing paper shares collected insights from funders and advocates across the country, in the hope that their observations will helpfully contribute to other funding and campaign efforts. These respondents noted that while considerable attention has been paid to factors informing the development of sound campaign strategy, comparatively less attention has been paid to the … Continued

Unique Methods in Multi-Stakeholder Evaluation

Authors: ORS Impact, Spark Policy Institute, TCC Group A seminal resource in the advocacy evaluation field, “Unique Methods in Advocacy Evaluation” (Coffman & Reed, 2010) increased evaluators’ awareness of methods uniquely positioned to evaluate advocacy. This second brief adds to that toolbox, this time focusing on methods that have been successfully used to understand multi-stakeholder … Continued

Advocacy Campaigns and Embedded Evaluators: Lessons Learned

From 2014 to 2016, TCC Group (TCC) partnered with Pre-K for PA Campaign and Campaign for Fair Education Funding (CFEF) to act as their embedded evaluator. For each advocacy campaign, TCC’s focus was on the quality of strategy, progress on short- and long-term goals, and internal capacity. Working with CFEF and Pre-K for PA provided … Continued

The Secret to Building Fundraising Capacity

When you ask any nonprofit what it needs most, you will ALWAYS get the same answer…money. But is it really that cut and dried? The secret to successful fundraising actually lies in an organization’s ability to convey clearly WHAT it is raising money for, WHY it remains relevant in the social sector as a whole, … Continued

Targeted Capacity Building – CCAT® Refresher Course

A webinar recording from February 26, 2016, Julie Simpson at TCC Group spends one hour exclusively on targeted capacity building—what it is, why it’s valuable, and how CCAT facilitators can use this approach in future interpretations. The specific roles and responsibilities for nonprofits, funders, and local consultants are also clearly identified.

Step into the Fight: Philanthropy’s Role in Legal Advocacy

Step into the Fight introduces funders and advocates to the concepts of legal advocacy—that is, using the judicial system to achieve social change. It was created as part of the Atlas Learning Project, generously funded by Atlantic Philanthropies and supported by the Center for Evaluation Innovation.