Browse Annie E. Casey Foundation Resources

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.

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)?

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.

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.

This article discusses how foundations and their nonprofit partners might think about failure and share their hard-learned lessons. The authors first distinguish among different types of mistakes and how they relate to specific types of foundation investments. The authors then discusses three examples that represent different types of mistakes that foundations and their nonprofit partners make. Finally, the authors offer lessons to foundations about adapting, learning, and sharing in the face of failure.