For Immediate Release
NEW STUDY RELEASED ON OVERALL FOUNDATION PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT AT THE ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION
Cambridge, MA: The Center for Effective Philanthropy has released a case study on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's (RWJF) performance assessment system. The case study is the first in a series to highlight practices in the field of philanthropy.
The study explores how RWJF, an $8 billion philanthropy focused on improving health and health care for all Americans, initially conceived and implemented its framework to assess the foundation's performance. The study chronicles the decade-long evolution of the framework - from its beginnings in grant and program evaluations to its current state as an annually updated, comprehensive document summarizing many related pieces of performance data. The study also chronicles how this effort has fundamentally changed the way RWJF's staff and board design their strategic goals and continually improve their grantmaking.
The report - Assessing Performance at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: A Case Study - is particularly relevant in light of the increasing attention being paid to the effectiveness of foundations. Recent media and Congressional scrutiny of foundations has raised new questions in the foundation field about how best to gauge and improve overall foundation performance.
The study is based on a series of discussions with RWJF executive leadership, board members, and staff as well as a review of key documents produced over the last 10 years. The study - authored by Phil Giudice and Kevin Bolduc - shows how the foundation has benefited from systematically integrating multiple sources of performance data, such as program outputs and outcomes, stakeholder perceptions, and comparative information, to assess progress against explicated theories of change.
"Many at the foundation have found that their grantmaking is more
focused and strategic as a result of engaging the entire foundation,
and especially the board members, in an annual discussion of the
foundation's successes and failures, Additionally, this assessment
facilitates critical and creative thinking that strengthens the
alignment of actions with the foundations stated goals," said Phil
Giudice, co-author of the study and CEP's Founding Fellow and Board
Vice Chair.
The case study explains that RWJF does not consider its system to be complete or perfect. Staff note that the process of continual engagement in improving the foundation's assessment system helps strengthen the dialogue within the foundation and the effectiveness of the foundation's programs. Said Steve Schroeder, RWJF's president from 1989-2003, "Philanthropy is a blend of art and science. The questions RWJF needed to ask about our performance may not have been completely answerable, but they were very important to ask."
CEP's case study also details some of the challenges that RWJF
had to overcome, highlighting important lessons learned that can
benefit other foundations engaging these questions. RWJF found,
for example, that strengthening assessment practices required assuring
foundation staff that assessments of the changing and diverse work
of the foundation would not harm grantmaking or be used in an inappropriately
punitive manner. "When RWJF leadership decided to institute a performance
assessment system, they initially faced some skepticism from staff.
It was difficult for some staff to develop theories of change and
associated indicators for their programs that were coherent and
strategic rather than just loose goals to fit around the portfolio
of grants that were current at that time," said co-author Kevin
Bolduc, Associate Director of the Center for Effective Philanthropy.
"However, the strength of RWJF's staff and leadership allowed them
to move past initial difficulties to develop their current Impact
Framework, which greatly increased RWJF's sense of internally clarity,
accountability and strategic focus."
To obtain a copy of the case study, please click here.
ABOUT THE CENTER FOR EFFECTIVE PHILANTHROPY
The Center for Effective Philanthropy is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to advancing the practice of philanthropy by providing management and governance tools to define, assess, and improve overall foundation performance.
Major funders of CEP include: The Atlantic Philanthropies, David
and Lucile Packard Foundation, Surdna Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers
Fund, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Charles Stewart
Mott Foundation, and Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT
Kevin Bolduc, Associate Director, at (617) 492-0800 x202 or kevinb@effectivephilanthropy.org
