Dec 01, 2017

Monitor Institute, Deloitte;

Despite marked advances in the tools and methods for monitoring, evaluation, and learning in the social sector and a burgeoning number of bright spots in practice that are emerging in the field, there is nevertheless broad dissatisfaction across the sector about how data is—or is not—used. Reimagining measurement has engaged the field in thinking about where monitoring, evaluation, and learning is likely to head over the next decade. Over the course of extensive research and more than 125 conversations with leading foundation executives and program staff, evaluation experts, nonprofit leaders, data wonks, and other stakeholders, it became clear that there is a real divergence between the future people expect for monitoring, evaluation, and learning, and the future people hope for.

Apr 03, 2017

Centre for Development Innovation, Wageningen University and Research Centre;

This guide is primarily for evaluators working in the international development sector. However, if you are a commissioner of an evaluation, an evaluation manager or a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) officer, you too will find it useful. Too often evaluations are shelved, with very little being done to bring about change within organisations that requested the evaluation in the first place. This guide will explain how you can make your evaluations more useful. It will help you to better understand some conceptual issues and appreciate how evaluations can contribute to changing mindsets and empowering stakeholders. On a practical level, the guide presents core guiding principles and pointers on how to design and facilitate evaluations that matter. Furthermore, it shows you how you can get your primary intended users and other key stakeholders to contribute effectively to the evaluation process.

Mar 29, 2017

Independent Sector; Guidestar; BBB Wise Giving Alliance;

Charting Impact is a common framework that allows staff, boards, stakeholders, donors, volunteers, and others to work together, learn from each other and serve the community better. It complements planning, evaluation, and assessment that organizations already undertake, and can be used by nonprofits and foundations of all sizes and missions. Charting Impact is a joint project of Independent Sector, GuideStar, and the BBB Wise Giving Alliance. This discussion guide explains the five questions at the heart of Charting Impact and offers guidance for developing your organization's responses to them. This material should help your discussions with key members of your organization as you consider how to communicate your goals, strategies, capabilities, progress indicators, and accomplishments through this framework.

Feb 07, 2017

Ontario Nonprofit Network;

In the nonprofit sector, evaluation is a word that gets used a lot. Different kinds of data gathering approaches with different purposes sometimes get lumped together under the general heading of evaluation. This can lead to miscommunication and unrealistic expectations. To try to clear things up a bit, we have created this resource.

Nov 01, 2016

William and Flora Hewlett Foundation;

Outcome-focused philanthropy is the Hewlett Foundation's approach to how we practice strategic philanthropy. It guides how we do our work, from start to finish. We've been practicing strategic philanthropy for more than a decade—focusing on what problem or opportunity we're trying to address, whether we're achieving our outcomes and why (or why not), and how we'll know. Outcome-focused philanthropy, OFP for short, builds on our experience and lessons learned. OFP maintains our commitment to rigor and results. But it gives equal weight to ongoing learning and adaptation—to ensure staff and grantees have the flexibility they need to succeed. And it embodies our commitment to working in partnership with other funders and organizations. "A practical guide to outcome-focused philanthropy" is a roadmap for our staff as they work across the four stages of a strategy's lifecycle: origination; implementation; refresh, and exit. The guidebook includes a set of worksheets that provide an at-a-glance overview of what staff need to think about and do at each stage. These worksheets also are available as a standalone document. The OFP guidebook is primarily for Hewlett Foundation staff—in both our programs and other departments whose work is equally essential for our strategies to succeed. But we hope our grantees and other funders also will find it helpful. Their work has greatly informed our own.

Jun 15, 2016

Public Profit;

Bad RFPs for evaluation frustrate everyone.OK, maybe we are being too harsh. But requests for proposals for evaluation services are oftentimes terrible. They read like a mash-up of Mad Libs contract language and evaluation jargon, and almost never provide evaluators with all the information they need to respond.This guide provides step-by-step instructions for preparing an RFP that will yield high-quality proposals and stronger evaluation services for your organization.

Mar 01, 2016

Big Lottery Fund;

This guidance has been produced to assist applicants in preparing their detailed (Stage 2) applications to the Coastal Communities Fund. It provides guidance on identifying, assessing and monitoring the economic impact potential of projects using an Indicator Framework, against which individual projects will be appraised.

Jan 01, 2016

Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation;

As part of your grant application you will need to construct a series of "output" and "outcome" performance metrics that describe what success will look like at the end of the grant period and how it will be measured. This brief guide is intended to help you build rigorous and specific metrics that will become the basis of future performance reporting to the Foundation.