Research
CEP’s research projects delve into the issues that are central to funder effectiveness, examining common practice and challenging conventional wisdom. Our research is informed by rigorous quantitative analysis of our large-scale comparative data sets, as well as by in-depth qualitative data.
To help funders define, assess, and improve overall performance, we focus our research on the following areas:
- Developing Strategy: A coherent, well-implemented strategy is a core element of foundation effectiveness. Learn how foundation leaders view and use strategy.
- Assessing Performance: Measuring progress is the only way to know whether a strategy is working. Review our framework for guidance on how to approach performance assessment.
- Funder–Grantee Relationships: Working productively with grantees enables funders to make progress against important goals. Gain relevant insights into this crucial relationship from our analysis of our grantee perception data set.
- Managing Operations: A foundation’s operational activities range from the grantee selection process to choices about staffing levels. Learn from the data highlighted in our research.
- Optimizing Governance: A foundation’s board can be a crucial asset in challenging areas, such as strategy development and performance assessment, or a hindrance that hampers progress. Find out what CEOs and trustees believe are the attributes of an effective board.
We mine our comparative data sets for research findings and to identify exemplars whose work we profile. Our research findings also influence the development and refinement of our assessment tools.
