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 challenges identified by the grantees.

Grantees’ approaches to capacity building naturally grouped around the areas of evaluation—framework development, data-systems strengthening, and staff training. Through individualized projects, grantees increased their ability to both do and use evaluation.

This article describes the design, implementation, and results of a participatory, nonprofit-partner-centered evaluation capacity-building initiative and shares learnings from the perspectives of both the corporate funder and the nonprofit participants.