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What Makes an Effective Advocacy Organization? A Framework for Determining Advocacy Capacity

Type: Briefing Paper

What Makes an Effective Advocacy Organization? A Framework for Determining Advocacy Capacity

In an effort to develop frameworks and methodologies to be able to meaningfully evaluate policy change efforts, TCC Group conducted an evaluation of a cohort of advocacy organizations who were receiving general support from The California Endowment. This resulting paper draws on a variety of sources, looking at the context for policy and advocacy work … Continued

When Things Fall Apart: Building Organizational Strength of Humanitarian Aid Organizations

Humanitarian aid organizations (HAOs) constantly balance competing demands: developmental change with emergency relief; visible and immediate impact with long-term sustainability; and donor and media demands with the needs of the population. HAOs are usually the first on the scene in the wake of a disaster, and as more organizations enter the field and solicit public … 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

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

Capturing General Operating Support Effectiveness: An Evaluation Framework for Funders and Evaluators

Data show that general operating support is on the rise. Yet foundations and evaluators alike need to better understand how to measure the impact of these grants. In this briefing paper, TCC Group reflects on its work evaluating general operating support and provides a comprehensive outcomes framework that maps out four key dimensions of success … Continued

Unprecedented: The First Year of a New Presidency Moves Philanthropy to Action

This report documents how philanthropy has demonstrated flexibility, nimbleness, and a willingness to collaborate in the first year of the new presidential administration that can serve as a model of creative adaptation for the field going forward. It also emphasizes the critical role of philanthropy-serving organizations and funder collaboratives in supporting funder learning, facilitating networking … Continued

Foundations Need Capacity Too: Initial Findings from the Foundation Core Capacity Assessment Tool

For many years, the social sector has paid substantial attention to the issue of nonprofit effectiveness. By contrast, comparatively little attention has been paid to the capacities that foundations themselves need to achieve impact. What capacities are essential to advancing a foundation’s own mission? How do these elements compare to the capacities their grantee partners … 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