Evaluation is about more than ensuring that grantees are doing what they promise, or that a specific program area at a foundation is meeting its goals. Rather, it’s about advancing knowledge and understanding among grantmakers, their grantees and their partners about what’s working, what’s not and how to improve their performance over time.
The 2011 Field Study is a comprehensive study of the attitudes and practices of staffed grantmaking foundations in the United States.
Through examples from the field, the publication provides concrete steps grantmakers can take to build a gut-level connection with their stakeholders.
Using Evaluation to Become an Effective Learning Organization
Engaging Stakeholders for More Effective Grantmaking Tear Sheet
The executive summary for Due Diligence Done Well.
Grantmaker Examples: Due Dilligence Done Well
There is a growing movement in philanthropy — a movement founded on the belief that grantmakers are more effective to the extent that they meaningfully engage their grantees and other key stakeholders. Grantmakers doing this work have arrived at an understanding that much of the knowledge and experience they need to solve the problems they want to solve, and to help them do a better job as grantmakers, resides in the communities they serve.
Addressing Key Financial Challenges Facing Nonprofits: Five Strategies for Grantmakers
This publication offers a brief overview of how grantmakers are looking at evaluation through an organizational learning and effectiveness lens.
Evaluation in Philanthropy: Perspectives and Stories from the Field
An excerpt from GEO’s upcoming publication, On the Money: The Key Financial Challenges Facing Nonprofits Today — and How Grantmakers Can Help.