Jan 17, 2019

FSG; Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO);

Effecting social change in a rapidly changing political environment and an increasingly interconnected world requires foundations to adopt a learning orientation. Without continuous learning, grantmakers—and thus boards and trustees—are unaware about what is working where, with whom, and why, as well as what changes or refinements are needed in order to achieve the grantmakers' desired results. This toolkit provides a fresh set of resources for grantmaker CEOs, evaluation staff, and senior leaders to use to engage their boards and trustees in conversations about the importance of strategic learning in their decision-making and deliberation processes.

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.

Nov 01, 2017

W.K. Kellogg Foundation; Community Science; HGF;

A new Step-by-Step Guide to Evaluation released in November 2017 for grantees, nonprofits and community leaders is a successor for the original Evaluation Handbook that was published in 1998 and revised in 2014. The new guide is available here by clicking Download PDF. The original handbook provides a framework for thinking about evaluation as a relevant and useful program tool. It was written primarily for project directors who have direct responsibility for the ongoing evaluation of W.K. Kellogg Foundation-funded projects. Increasingly, we have targeted our grantmaking by funding groups of projects that address issues of particular importance to the Foundation.The primary purpose for grouping similar projects together in "clusters" is to bring about more policy or systemic change than would be possible in a single project or in a series of unrelated projects. Cluster evaluation is a means of determining how well the collection of projects fulfills the objective of systemic change. Projects identified as part of a cluster are periodically brought together at networking conferences to discuss issues of interest to project directors, cluster evaluators,and the Foundation.

May 03, 2017

Grameen Bank; Poverty Out of Progress;

PPI is a tool that gauges the number of microfinance clients that moves out of poverty over time. The PPI asks 10 questions that are predictive of poverty (e.g., what are the walls of your house made of?). Microfinance loan officers then integrate these questions into their standard loan application and maintenance interviews. Data collected over time is aggregated to show movement of groups of clients relative to poverty.

May 02, 2017

McKinsey & Company; Venture Philanthropy Partners;

This is a tool to measure organizational capacity. Each element from the Capacity Framework's seven elements of organizational capacity is scored on a grid, by selecting the text that best describes the organization's current status or performance. The seven elements of organizational capacity are: 1) Aspirations; 2) Strategy; 3) Organizatonal Skills; 4) Human Resources; 5) Systems and Infrastructure; 6) Organizational Structure; and 7) Culture.

May 02, 2017

US Green Building Council;

LEED is a tool that certifies green buildings. It establishes a benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of green buildings and its requirements for certification are detailed in a checklist. Points are assigned to a project as it meets individual items on the checklist and a final point tally determines whether certification is awarded and the level of certification (platinum, gold, silver, or certified).

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.