Tag Archive
foundation effectiveness
Making Evaluation Matter
January 23rd, 2013
Evaluation matters. When we surveyed foundation CEOs about performance assessment in 2011, we saw that nearly all rely on formal evaluations—including of grantees, program areas, and grant clusters—to inform their understanding of their foundations’ effectiveness. ...
When “Dependency” is Not a Bad Word
January 15th, 2013
I have a dependency problem. No, it’s not drugs or alcohol. ...
Philanthropy’s Innovation Pile Up
October 4th, 2012
This piece was also posted on Impatient Optimists, where Jeff Raikes will be blogging regularly about challenges and opportunities facing the philanthropic community. At the Gates Foundation, we believe in the power of innovation to improve lives. ...
Data Point: What are Foundation CEOs’ Attitudes Toward Assessment?
March 22nd, 2012
One of the key findings in our recent State of Foundation Performance Assessment report was that CEOs place great importance on assessing their foundations’ effectiveness. Nearly three-quarters of foundation CEOs say assessment of foundation effectiveness is among their highest priorities. ...
The Unique and Urgent ‘Business’ of Philanthropy
December 22nd, 2011
The following blog post is adapted from a talk presented at a meeting of the Grantmakers of Oregon and Southwest Washington. As Suk Rhee mentioned in her introduction, I am a native Oregonian, so I know that there is no better place than the Pacific Northwest. ...
Data Point: What Information are Foundations Using to Assess Their Programmatic Work?
December 9th, 2011
For our recent State of Foundation Performance Assessment report, we gathered data from 173 CEOs of U.S. ...
The Power of Donor Feedback
September 28th, 2011
The conversation at the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) tends to move rapidly toward the subject of feedback. The assessment tools we provide to foundations make it possible to collect responses in areas relevant to foundation organization and practice from a wide range of constituent groups — grantees, local stakeholders and donors among them. ...
A CEP Advisory Board Member Weighs In
September 26th, 2011
Two weeks ago, CEP released a report about strategy at community foundations. Last Thursday, Ellie Buteau wrote a blog post about some responses we have received since the report’s release. ...
Data Point: Influencing Donors Who Give to Community Foundations
September 16th, 2011
The use and management of data stands at the core of the work undertaken by the Center for Effective Philanthropy. The set of survey tools CEP has developed as well as field-wide research builds comparative data drawn from key constituent groups—grantees, donors, staff members and others—providing insights that enable funders to better define, assess and improve their effectiveness. ...
What Foundations are Doing to Understand their Effectiveness
September 7th, 2011
One of the first research projects undertaken by the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) after it was founded 10 years ago was an effort to understand what foundations were doing to assess how effective they are. What we learned in 2001-2002 was that foundation leaders were frustrated by how limited their ability was to determine how well the foundations they lead were doing. ...
assessing performance
beneficiary feedback
beneficiary perceptions
communications
community foundations
comparative data
conferences
developing strategy
Donor Perception Report
economy
effective philanthropy
Essentials of Foundation Strategy
foundation effectiveness
foundation governance
foundation performance
foundation staff/program officers
foundation strategy
foundation transparency
Funder/Grantee Relationships
funder/grantee relationships
funder effectiveness
giving strategy
goals
Grantee Perception Report
grantee perspectives
Grantee Voice
indicators
leadership
nonprofit sector
overall foundation performance assessment
performance assessment
performance measurement
philanthropy
role of philanthropy
social media
Staff Perception Report
stakeholder engagement
strategy implementation
youth
YouthTruth
Lessons from a Risk Taken
I really appreciate your willingness to share this and your assessment of what didn't work out as planned or anticipated. Thanks.
I really appreciate your willingness to share this and your assessment of what didn't work out as planned or anticipated. Thanks.
Lessons from a Risk Taken
Jon, thanks for the comment. If there’s one thing we learned, it’s that the cost in time and effort and dollars were all higher than...
Jon, thanks for the comment. If there’s one thing we learned, it’s that the cost in time and effort and dollars were all higher than...
Lessons from a Risk Taken
Thanks for sharing the lessons learned, and what I sense are second thoughts about the cost/benefit of the whole enterprise. I appreciate the thirst for...
Thanks for sharing the lessons learned, and what I sense are second thoughts about the cost/benefit of the whole enterprise. I appreciate the thirst for...
Foundations and Impact Investing: What Is Really Going On?
Great insight. Sometimes it's great to invest in multiple countries as security as the economy in one country might decrease and increase in another.
Great insight. Sometimes it's great to invest in multiple countries as security as the economy in one country might decrease and increase in another.
Foundations and Impact Investing: What Is Really Going On?
Great questions. It is likely still too early to get a handle on whether the (potential) results reflect the hype meaningfully. However, I will be...
Great questions. It is likely still too early to get a handle on whether the (potential) results reflect the hype meaningfully. However, I will be...
