Browse foundation Resources
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"Real-life Lessons Learned and Resources in Building Capacity for Advocacy and Policy Evaluation among KIDS COUNT Grantees" The Annie E. Casey Foundation and Organizational Research Services, Inc. recount ten lessons learned from an evaluation of five KIDS COUNT grantees that began in 2007. The evaluation was designed to test some of the ideas presented in "A Guide to Measuring Advocacy and Policy", a report produced by AECF and ORS in 2006. This handout, distributed at the American Evaluation Association 2008 conference, also contains a list of advocacy evaluation resources available on ORS's website. Author: Annie E. Casey Foundation; Organizational Research Services Type: Tipsheets & Paper Tools Date: Nov 6, 2008 Be the first to review this resource! Download (261.49 KB) -
2008 Civic Engagement Evaluation Assessment and Recommendations for the Field 2008 was a historic year for civic participation in the United States. The Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP) brings together grantmakers committed to enhancing democratic participation in all aspects of civic life. Its nearly 80 members comprised of private, public and community foundations collectively contributed scores of millions of dollars to non-partisan civic engagement efforts of all kinds nationwide.
Author: Lacy M. Serros Type: Research & Reports Date: Dec 1, 2009 Be the first to review this resource! Download (699.52 KB) -
5 Evaluation Lessons From a Recovering Program Officer (Presentation slides) As a profession, evaluators must constantly demonstrate the value of their work to remain relevant. Each evaluation represents a significant investment in resources that many argue could be used to provide more programming. Author: Will Fenn Type: Presentation Slides Date: Oct 17, 2013 Point K Pick Be the first to review this resource! Download (4.05 MB) -
5 Evaluation Lessons from a Recovering Program Officer (recording) As a profession, evaluators must constantly demonstrate the value of their work to remain relevant. Each evaluation represents a significant investment in resources that many argue could be used to provide more programming. A primary concern of maintaining the value proposition of the evaluation field is ensuring that evaluations remain manageable and useful to all participants. The Ignite session offered five succinct lessons from a former foundation Program Officer that can be applied across program types to help nonprofits and foundations improve evaluation coordination and use. Author: Will Fenn Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Oct 17, 2013 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
A Case Study in "Grassroots" Lobbying: How MADD Fixed the Flaw in Hawaii's Drunk-Driving Law This brief case study highlights MADD's public policy situation, lobbying strategies, tactics, and outcomes. The study includes examples of key indicators for grass roots lobbying. Author: W.K. Kellogg Foundation Type: Research & Reports Date: Jun 1, 2006
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A Case Study in Advocacy Through Public Education: How the Public Media Center Used Facts to Counter Tobacco Industry Politics This brief case study highlights how California Public Health advocates used public education to sway voter support for a ballot initiative. Author: W.K. Kellogg Foundation Type: Research & Reports Date: Jun 1, 2006
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A Guide to Actionable Measurement Staff members from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation discuss the principles and practices they use to make decisions about data collection, analysis, and reporting. Their approach, "actionable measurement," emphasizes the collection of information for specific decisions or actions.
UPDATE: We had a broken link here. It was updated on Jan. 13, 2011.
Author: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Type: Research & Reports Date: May 10, 2010
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A Guide to Measuring Advocacy and Policy This guide provides some perspective on where the field of philanthropy has been with regard to evaluation of advocacy and policy and also acknowledges the unique issues and challenges associated with measuring these efforts. In addition, this guide serves as an invitation to grantmakers to engage in and expand thinking about evaluation as it relates to advocacy and policy efforts. As seriously as many grantmakers take their investments in this area, foundations should also take seriously the need to advance evaluation of advocacy and policy work.
Author: Prepared for Annie E. Casey Foundation Research by Organizational Research Services Type: Research & Reports Date: Jan 1, 2007 Be the first to review this resource! Download (255.04 KB) -
A Guide to Measuring Advocacy and Policy Developed for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, this guide serves as a broad call to grantmakers to build and advance the field of advocacy and policy evaluation. The guide includes sections on the context of advocacy evaluation and evaluation design. Author: Reisman, Jane, et al. Type: Research & Reports Date: Mar 15, 2007
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A Helpful Guide to Failure in Philanthropy. Use Carefully. Larry Blumenthal's article provides perspective about the fear of failure in philanthropy, and how to overcome that fear so foundations can learn from their mistakes (and other foundation's mistakes) to achieve their mission and program goals. Author: LARRY BLUMENTHAL Type: Newsletters & Periodicals Date: Jan 7, 2010 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
A Model for Multilevel Advocacy Evaluation Tanya Beer of The Colorado Trust and Ehren Reed of Innovation Network produced this article for The Foundation Review to describe a three-year advocacy evaluation capacity building project for nine health access advocacy organizations in Colorado. Author: Tanya Beer, The Colorado Trust; Ehren Reed, Innovation Network Type: Research & Reports Date: Oct 1, 2009 Be the first to review this resource! Download (990.44 KB) -
A Practical Guide for Engaging Stakeholders in Developing Evaluation Questions This guide describes a five-step process for engaging stakeholders in developing evaluation
questions, and includes four worksheets and a case example to further facilitate the planning
and implementation of your stakeholder engagement process.Step 1: Prepare for stakeholder engagement: This step includes collecting information about
the program or initiative being evaluated—its history, why it came into being, what it is trying
to accomplish and what success would look like.Author: Hallie Preskill and Nathalie Jones Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Jun 1, 2009 Be the first to review this resource! Download (1001.41 KB) -
A Practical Guide to Documenting Influence and Leverage In Making Connections Communities This guide offers practical steps for capturing and documenting the effects of influence and leverage in Casey's making Connections communities. Through examples of influence and leverage outcomes -- as well as tools and methods for data collection -- this guide pointed the way for Making Connections teams, partners and funders to better communicate and refine strategies to help improve the lives of vulnerable children.
Author: Commissioned by Annie E. Casey Foundation. Researched by Organizational Research Services. Type: Research & Reports Date: Dec 8, 2004 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
A Practical Guide to Documenting Influence and Leverage In Making Connections Communities How does one document influence (change in policies, systems, practices and/or opinions that support one’s strategies) and leverage (investment by public and private funders in one’s strategies)?
Author: Organizational Research Services Type: Research & Reports Date: Feb 12, 2007
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Advocacy Evaluation Update (Issue #1, June 2007) The inaugural issue of Innovation Network's Advocacy Evaluation Update includes the following:
1) brief updates about new models, guidelines, thinking, and resources in the field of advocacy evaluation; and
2) evaluation stories about advocacy and evaluation efforts undertaken by Oxfam, Open Society Institute, and the California Endowment.
Author: Innovation Network Type: Newsletters & Periodicals Date: Jun 27, 2007 Be the first to review this resource! Download (490.28 KB) -
Advocacy Evaluation Update (Issue #2, November 2007) The second issue of Innovation Network's Advocacy Evaluation Update includes the following:
1) brief updates about new models, research, and resources in the field of advocacy evaluation; and
2) interviews about advocacy and evaluation efforts undertaken by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Planned Parenthood.
Author: Innovation Network Type: Newsletters & Periodicals Date: Oct 31, 2007 Be the first to review this resource! Download (353.06 KB) -
Advocacy Evaluation Update (Issue #3, March 2008) The third issue of Innovation Network's Advocacy Evaluation Update includes the following:
1) updates about advocacy evaluation resources available online;
2) highlights from the Advocacy and Policy Change TIG (Topical Interest Group) conference sessions (including research summaries and links to additional resources) presented at the American Evaluation Association's 2007 annual conference; and
3) interviews with three of the leaders of AEA's Advocacy and Policy Change TIG.
Author: Innovation Network Type: Newsletters & Periodicals Date: Mar 12, 2008 Be the first to review this resource! Download (584.99 KB) -
Advocacy Evaluation Update (Issue #4, September 2008) The fourth issue of Innovation Network's Advocacy Evaluation Update includes the following:
1) New publications from Innovation Network and The Atlantic Philanthropies;
2) a scan of available advocacy evaluation trainings (fifteen organizations included); and
3) AEA 2008 schedule, including sessions hosted by the Advocacy and Policy Change Topical Interest Group (TIG).
Author: Innovation Network Type: Newsletters & Periodicals Date: Sep 30, 2008
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Advocacy Evaluation Update (Issue #5, February 2009) The fifth edition of Innovation Network's Advocacy Evaluation Update (AEU) newsletter includes the following:
1. News from the Advocacy Evaluation Advances convening in California;
2. Advocacy evaluation session summaries from the American Evaluation Association (AEA) annual meeting;
3. AEA 2009 call for sessions; and
4. News on the upcoming Foundation Review issue on advocacy and policy change.
Author: Innovation Network Type: Newsletters & Periodicals Date: Feb 1, 2009 Be the first to review this resource! Download (350.84 KB) -
Advocacy Evaluation Update (Issue #6, June 2009) The sixth issue of Innovation Network's Advocacy Evaluation Update (AEU) newsletter includes the following:
1. Four new resources on advocacy evaluation;
2. Highlights from Impact Evaluation Conference in Cairo;
3. Blogs about advocacy evaluation; and
4. Upcoming advocacy evaluation events.
Author: Innovation Network Type: Newsletters & Periodicals Date: Jun 30, 2009 Be the first to review this resource! Download (198.2 KB) -
Advocacy Evaluation Update (Issue #7, October 2009) The seventh issue of Advocacy Evaluation Update (AEU) newsletter was the first produced as part of the strategic partnership between Innovation Network and the Center for Evaluation Innovation. It was also the first edited by Julia Coffman, an experienced evaluator and the Center's Director.
1. Feature: Good in Theory, But Does It Work in Practice? By Simon Starling, Oxfam Great Britain
2. Profiles from the Field: The Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California San Francisco
Author: The Center for Evaluation Innovation; Innovation Network Type: Newsletters & Periodicals Date: Oct 28, 2009 Be the first to review this resource! Download (491.56 KB) -
An Ecological Understanding of Evaluation Use: A Case Study of the Active for Life Evaluation This document presents a case study of use of an evaluation of Active for Life: Increasing Physical Activity Levels in Adults Age 50 and Older a program sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The breadth of both the program and the evaluation created additional ways of thinking about evaluation use–what it looks like, where you find it and how to connect it.
Author: Judith Ottoson and Diane Martinez, Type: Research & Reports Date: Jun 1, 2010 Be the first to review this resource! Download (847.79 KB) -
Applying Culturally-Responsive Communication in Hispanic/Latino Communities Understanding cultural norms can help you to better reach, communicate with and educate your audience. When you meet someone new, you should always remember to be open and respectful of their beliefs. This resource provides some norms that are common among all Hispanic/Latino cultures, and examples of a few of those norms and ways to improve communication with the communities you serve. Author: Susan G. Komen Foundation Type: Tipsheets & Paper Tools Date: Dec 1, 2014 Be the first to review this resource! Download (370.56 KB) -
Are We There Yet? A Communications Evaluation Guide Produced by Asibey Consulting for The Communications Network, this report was created for philanthropic organizations and nonprofits seeking to evaluate and improve their communications. The authors conducted surveys and interviews to examine current practices in communications evaluation. This document includes several worksheets to help readers take action on the report's recommendations. Author: Asibey Consulting and The Communications Network Type: Research & Reports Date: Jan 1, 2008
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Assessing Capacity for Community Change Efforts: Learnings From an Adaptive Initiative (Presentation slides) Should community change efforts be focused on funding coalitions or funding a flexible group of community leaders? The Kansas Health Foundation has embraced a four-pronged community change model that targets community leaders as key agents of change within each of their funded communities. Author: Kat Athanasiades, Veena Pankaj, Deanna Van Hersh Type: Presentation Slides Date: Oct 17, 2013 Point K Pick Be the first to review this resource! Download (682.32 KB)