|
 Insights
from a gathering of more than 200 foundation leaders in San Francisco
in March are distilled in a just-released report from CEP. The report
discusses issues related to foundation impact and performance, drawing
on new research, case examples from foundation leaders, and the
perspectives of experts and outside observers.
Through a mix of plenary, break-out,
and workshop sessions, participants heard from a variety of presenters
on various approaches to foundation assessment, evaluation, strategy,
and governance. Speakers and participants shared practical examples
of the ways in which foundations are responding to the changing
environment in which they operate.
Speakers whose remarks are described in the CEP
report include Independent Sector's Diana Aviv, The David and Lucile
Packard Foundation's Carol Larson, California HealthCare Foundation's
Mark Smith, The Greater Cincinnati Foundation's Kathy Merchant,
The Bridgespan Group's Jeff Bradach, Global Business Network's Katherine
Fulton, and Boston Globe's investigative reporter Michael
Rezendes. The seminar was sponsored by The California Endowment,
The California Wellness Foundation, Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation,
Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, The James Irvine Foundation, and
Stuart Foundation. Northern California Grantmakers (NCG) and Southern
California Grantmakers (SCG) were also CEP's partners in the planning
and promotion of this event.
The full report is available free for download
by clicking here.
To order hard copies, click here.
Ninety-seven percent of foundations that have received
a Grantee Perception Report® (GPR) are making changes
on the basis of what they learned, according to a just-released
report from LaFrance Associates, LLC (LFA). Actions taken by foundations
on the basis of their results range from major changes in grantmaking
strategy to improvements in grantmaking processes and communication
with grantees.
The report draws on a survey of GPR subscribers
undertaken earlier this year by LFA. CEP commissioned LFA to conduct
the survey in order to understand how the GPR has been used and
to gather feedback to guide CEP as it seeks continually to improve
the tool.
"This report provides powerful confirmation
of the utility of the GPR," said CEP Executive Director Phil
Buchanan. "Most significant is that foundations are using the
report to make positive change. But we were also gratified to see
high levels of satisfaction with the process and a perception that
the GPR is an excellent value. This is especially important because,
as a mission-driven nonprofit, our goal is to make this type of
data as broadly available as possible."
The report also identified areas where participants
said the GPR could be improved. The utility of the report without
CEP assistance, for example, was rated less positively than other
elements of the experience. "We will review the report with
an eye toward improving the presentation of the data and making
it more user-friendly," said CEP's Judy Huang, Manager of the
GPR. Several survey respondents also had other, specific suggestions
for improvement that will be considered in this process, added Huang.
An executive summary of the report can
be downloaded by clicking here
(pdf).
The full report is also available for download by clicking here
(pdf).
 A
major report on foundation governance will be published by CEP this
fall. This report will draw on analyses of the perceptions of nearly
600 trustees of 53 foundations on a range of issues related to foundation
effectiveness, as well as on in-depth qualitative interviews and
data on board structure and practices.
The Governance Study findings
have important implications for how boards and staffs act to optimize
the effectiveness of their boards. CEP's Sarah Di Troia presented
preliminary results at CEP's March seminar. To read a summary of
her presentation, click here
and download Higher Impact: Improving Foundation Performance.
The research has been conducted as part of Phase
II of CEP's Foundation Governance Project, co-sponsored by BoardSource
and Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO) and funded by
eight foundations: Carnegie Corporation of New York, Charles and
Helen Schwab Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, The David
and Lucile Packard Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation,
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Lumina Foundation for Education,
and an anonymous foundation funder.
Also forthcoming from CEP later this year:
a new report on results from CEP's grantee surveys, and a practical
guide to communicating more effectively with grantees.
Three new assessment tools in the areas of governance,
staff perceptions, and operational and financial benchmarking have
been successfully piloted by CEP this year and are now being made
broadly available to foundations.
- The Comparative
Board Report (CBR) provides foundations with comparative data
on board structure and practices as well as perceptions of trustees
on a range of dimensions on a comparative basis. This tool was
piloted by 53 foundations as part of CEP's Foundation Governance
Project.
- The Staff
Perception Report (SPR) was developed by CEP in close consultation
and partnership with the Research and Evaluation Team at the Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and was piloted with six large
foundations earlier this year. The SPR provides data on staff
perceptions of foundation effectiveness, alignment toward key
objectives, and job satisfaction.
- The Operational
Benchmarking Report (OBR) offers foundations difficult-to-obtain
comparative information in areas such as number of active grants
per program officer, allowing foundations to make more informed
decisions about staffing and structure. The OBR is offered as
a module within the Grantee Perception Report®
(GPR) and as a short, stand-alone report.
For information about the CBR, contact CEP Associate
Director Sarah Di Troia at sarahd@effectivephilanthropy.org
or 617-492-0800 ext. 212.
For information about the SPR and OBR, contact
CEP Associate Director Kevin Bolduc at kevinb@effectivephilanthropy.org
or 617-492-0800 ext. 202.
The GPR's development and role as part of an overall
foundation performance assessment system is explored in a forthcoming
book chapter by CEP's Phil Buchanan, Kevin Bolduc, and Judy Huang.
The chapter, Turning the Table on Assessment: The Grantee Perception
Report®, is to be included in the Grantmakers
for Effective Organizations (GEO) book, A Funder's Guide to
Organizational Assessment, due out later this fall.
This chapter includes a discussion of the challenges
of performance assessment for foundations, describes the origins
of the GPR, illustrates lessons learned, and provides examples of
changes made by foundations that have used this tool. It also reports
on some of the broadly applicable insights gained from CEP's large-scale
surveys of grantees.
This chapter is available free for download
by clicking here.
For information on the GPR, contact CEP Manager
of the GPR Judy Huang at judyh@effectivephilanthropy.org
or 617-492-0800 ext. 204.
 Foundation
strategy is the topic of a new research study to be launched by
CEP in the coming months. This pilot study will explore conceptions
of foundation and program strategy within foundations, exploring
questions such as:
- How are program strategies defined, developed,
modified, and assessed?
- How uniformly and consistently are strategies
implemented?
- What evidence of the success of strategies exists?
CEP is currently fundraising for this initiative.
To find out more, contact CEP Associate Director Kevin Bolduc at
kevinb@effectivephilanthropy.org
or 617-492-0800 ext. 202.
Effective Matters
is a quarterly newsletter published by the Center
for Effective Philanthropy, (CEP) a nonprofit organization focused
on the development of comparative data to enable higher-performing
foundations. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, CEP's mission is
to provide management and governance tools to define, assess, and
improve overall foundation performance.
If you have questions about this newsletter or
would like general information about CEP and its activities, please
contact CEP Communications and Programming Coordinator Alyse d'Amico
at alysed@effectivephilanthropy.org
or 617-492-0800 ext. 206.
Copyright 2005. The Center for Effective Philanthropy,
Inc. All rights reserved. Permission to use, copy, and/or distribute
this document in whole or in part for non-commercial purposes without
fee is hereby granted provided that this notice and appropriate
credit to the Center for Effective Philanthropy is included in all
copies. |
