Browse Research & Reports Resources
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Monitoring and Evaluation for Human Rights Organizations: Three Case Studies These case studies profile the monitoring and evaluation efforts of three human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs). They are intended to support efforts within the human rights community to explore and tackle monitoring and evaluation (M&E) challenges by providing concrete examples and transferable lessons about how to integrate M&E in useful ways. The cases emphasize both the methodologies used and the organizations’ efforts to build internal M&E capacity and support.Author: The Center for Evaluation Innovation Type: Research & Reports Date: Jan 1, 2014 Be the first to review this resource! Download (308.16 KB) -
NGO and Grassroots Policy Influence: What is Success? This paper begins with background on methodology, objectives, and the importance of policy influence to NGOs and grassroots organizations. Subsequent sections examine concepts related to successful policy work such as civil society and social capital; present an overview of the Filipino political and social context; describe five Filipino case studies; draw some key lessons and insights from those studies regarding success factors and makes comparisons; discuss trade-offs and dilemmas; and summarize important findings. Author: Miller, Valerie Type: Research & Reports Date: Jan 1, 1994 Be the first to review this resource! Download (89.92 KB) -
Nudging the Giant: The Story of the POLICY Project/Nigeria 1999 - 2004 The POLICY Project began in 1999, following the first civilian elections Nigeria had seen in sixteen years. The Project's purpose was "to strengthen the policy process in population, reproductive health, and HIV/AIDS as a basis for improved services[...]In 2002, the scope of the project was expanded from HIV/AIDS, population, and reproductive health to include child survival." This evaluation report, prepared by Ann R. Author: The POLICY Project Type: Research & Reports Date: Jun 1, 2005 Be the first to review this resource! Download (870.71 KB) -
Participatory Analysis: Expanding Stakeholder Involvement in Evaluation This paper shares some techniques we have used to give evaluation participants a more active role in the review and analysis of their evaluation data. It also discusses the benefits and challenges of the participatory analysis process. Author: Veena Pankaj, Myia Welsh, and Laura Ostenso of Innovation Network, Inc. Type: Research & Reports Date: Apr 1, 2011 Be the first to review this resource! Download (429.45 KB) -
Pathways for Change 2013 Author: The Center for Evaluation Innovation Type: Research & Reports Date: Jan 1, 2013 Be the first to review this resource! Download (211.06 KB) -
Paying More Attention to Paying Attention (From Introduction)
In 1998 I wrote Paying Attention: Visitors and Museum Exhibitions, a book supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant called “A Meta-analysis of Visitor Time/Use in Museum Exhibitions.” The grant accomplished three main goals:
Author: Beverly Serrell Type: Research & Reports Date: Jan 1, 2010 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Performance Monitoring Framework for Conservation Advocacy, A This report was written in response to the New Zealand Department of Conservation’s environmental advocacy work. It "sets out a framework for monitoring the effectiveness of conservation advocacy programmes in increasing public awareness about, and involvement in, conservation." The report offers advocacy monitoring and evaluation guidelines applicable beyond the environmental advocacy field. Author: James, Bev Type: Research & Reports Date: Mar 1, 2001 Be the first to review this resource! Download (229.7 KB) -
Philanthropic Freedom: A Pilot Study Hudson Institute’s Center for Global Prosperity (CGP) is pleased to announce the publication of Philanthropic Freedom: A Pilot Study, the first time that the ease of giving has been fully measured and compared across 13 countries. The pilot study and each of the detailed country reports can be downloaded for free from www.Hudson.org/PhilanthropicFreedom.
Author: Hudson Institute Center for Global Prosperity Type: Research & Reports Date: Mar 28, 2013 Be the first to review this resource! Download (1.31 MB) -
Philanthropic Strategies and Tactics for Change: A Concise Framework This article discusses the various tactics grantmakers rely on to create impact. The author describes theories of change, theories of leverage, programmatic tactics, and grantmaking tactics. Within programmatic tactics he discusses the need for evaluations to allow for ongoing program adjustments and to inform future efforts. Author: Frumkin, Peter Type: Research & Reports Date: Aug 31, 2002 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Philanthropy and Mistakes: An Untapped Resource 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.
Author: Robert Giloth and Susan Gewirtz Type: Research & Reports Date: Jan 1, 2009 Be the first to review this resource! Download (520.58 KB) -
Philanthropy and the Social Economy: Blueprint 2015 Philanthropy and the Social Sector 2015 is an annual industry forecast about the social economy -- private resources used for public benefit. Each year, the Blueprint provides an overview of the current landscape, points to major trends, and directs your attention to horizons where you can expect some breakthroughs in the coming year. This year I'm excited to broaden my horizons to include insights from 14 countries other than the United States. This is possible due to a new working relationship with betterplace lab in Berlin.
Author: Lucy Bernholz Type: Research & Reports Date: Dec 1, 2014 Be the first to review this resource! Download (2.36 MB) -
Power, Participation, and State-based Politics: An Evaluation of the Ford Foundation's Collaborations that Count Initiative The Applied Research Center (ARC) conducted a two-year participatory evaluation to provide an account of the Ford Foundation's "Collaborations That Count Initiative." The report identifies areas in which the 11 statewide collaborations succeeded, and draws attention to ways in which support to collaboration might be more effectively provided in the future. Author: Applied Research Center Type: Research & Reports Date: Apr 21, 2004 Be the first to review this resource! Download (1.85 MB) -
Public Communication Campaign Evaluation First in the series of five papers from the Communications Consortium Media Center (q.v.), this paper is a "scan of challenges, criticisms, practice, and opportunities." Author Julia Coffman:
- Discusses recent events in the field of advocacy evaluation;
- Examines evaluation challenges, criticisms, and practice; and
- Includes sections on relevant theory, outcomes, and evaluation design.
Author: Coffman, Julia Type: Research & Reports Date: May 1, 2002 Be the first to review this resource! Download (190.47 KB) -
Public Will Building: What it Means and How to Evaluate It [Handout] Strategic Partner Julia Coffman (of the Center for Evaluation Innovation) and Innovation Network Director Ehren Reed led a discussion on Public Will Building for The Connecticut Health Foundation's Leadership Fellows. Author: Julia Coffman and Ehren Reed Type: Research & Reports Date: Dec 14, 2011 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Putting the system back into systems change: A framework for understanding and changing organizational and community systems This paper provides one framework—grounded in systems thinking and change literatures—for understanding and identifying the fundamental system parts and interdependencies that can help to explain system functioning and leverage systems change. The proposed framework highlights the importance of attending to both the deep and apparent structures within a system as well as the interactions and interdependencies among these system parts. Author: Pennie G. Foster-Fishman, Branda Nowell, Huilan Yang Type: Research & Reports Date: May 18, 2007 Be the first to review this resource! Download (381.29 KB) -
Readiness for Evaluation and Learning: Assessing Grantmaker and Grantee Capacity When undertaking a new organizational or program approach to evaluation, begin with questions of readiness. What is the existing EVALUATION PRACTICE of my organization or program? What is the existing EVALUATION CAPACITY of my organization or program? Author: Johanna Morariu, Innovation Network, Inc. Type: Research & Reports Date: Apr 1, 2012 Point K Pick Be the first to review this resource! Download (375.25 KB) -
Report from "Planning, Assessing and Learning from Advocacy Workshop" This report summarizes a 4-day workshop help in Accra, Ghana, in April 2006. The workshop was a collaboration between INTRAC and ActionAid. INTRAC was seeking to understand M&E as practiced on the ground as part of its preparation for an international conference, and ActionAid was motivated by a desire to present findings from three years of the Action Research Project and give participants a forum to express themselves. Author: INTRAC Type: Research & Reports Date: Apr 30, 2006 Be the first to review this resource! Download (47.11 KB) -
Report: "Ten Considerations for Advocacy Evaluation Planning: Lessons Learned from KIDS COUNT Grantee Experiences" The Annie E. Casey Foundation and Organizational Research Services, Inc. detail 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. Author: Organizational Research Services Type: Research & Reports Date: Jan 1, 2009 Be the first to review this resource! Download (289.93 KB) -
Report: "What Makes an Effective Advocacy Organization? A Framework for Determining Advocacy Capacity" TCC Group's Jared Raynor, Peter York and Shao-Chee Sim authored "What Makes an Effective Advocacy Organization? A Framework for Determining Advocacy Capacity" based on TCC's evaluation of a cohort of advocacy groups funded by The California Endowment. Author: TCC Group Type: Research & Reports Date: Jan 1, 2009 Be the first to review this resource! Download (5.81 MB) -
Room for Improvement: Foundations' Support of Nonprofit Performance Assessment Amidst growing pressure for nonprofits to measure and assess their performance, the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) finds that nonprofits sorely lack the support they need. CEP finds that 81 percent of the nonprofits surveyed believe that nonprofits should demonstrate the effectiveness of their work by using performance measures.
CEP also finds that:
» Nonprofits very much want to be able to understand their performance and are taking steps to do so. Nonprofits want more help in performance assessment efforts than they are currently receiving from their foundation funders.Author: Brock, Andrea; Buteau, Ellie; Herring, An-Li Type: Research & Reports Date: Sep 1, 2012 Be the first to review this resource! Download (1.04 MB) -
Social Research Update: Photo-Interviewing for Research Rosalind Hurthworth offers insight into multiple uses of photography in evaluation. Author: Hurworth, Rosalind Type: Research & Reports Date: Mar 1, 2003 Be the first to review this resource! Download (156.06 KB) -
Social Watch Developing An Evaluation (1995-2000) This discussion paper summarizes many of the issues facing the Social Watch Coordinating Committee and Reference Group, in their attempt to evaluate the progress of Social Watch (an international network concerned with poverty eradication and equality). After describing the hurdles to evaluation, the author discusses what should be evaluated, what steps should be taken to develop an evaluation methodology, and next steps. Author: van Tuijl, Peter Type: Research & Reports Date: May 22, 1999 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Speaking for Themselves: Advocates' Perspectives on Evaluation "Speaking for Themselves: Advocates' Perspectives on Evaluation" will give you a better understanding of advocates' views on evaluation, the advocacy strategies and capacities they find effective, and current evaluation practices. Based on Innovation's Network's research, the report includes recommendations for advocates, funders, and evaluators. Both the research and publication were made possible by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and The Atlantic Philanthropies. Author: Innovation Network, Inc. Type: Research & Reports Date: Aug 12, 2008 Point K Pick
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State of Evaluation - Russian translation The Project: Nonprofits hear a lot of talk about evaluation these days—metrics and measurements, indicators and impact, efficiency and effectiveness. Everyone, from donors to board members, seems to want evaluation results. But there was a big knowledge gap around evaluation practice: What are nonprofits really doing to evaluate their work? How are they really using evaluation results? What support are they getting? What else do they need?
Author: Innovation Network Type: Research & Reports Date: Feb 3, 2011 Be the first to review this resource! Download (6.78 MB) -
State of Evaluation 2010: Evaluation Practice and Capacity in the Nonprofit Sector Nonprofits hear a lot of talk about evaluation these days—metrics and measurements, indicators and impact, efficiency and effectiveness. Everyone, from donors to board members, seems to want evaluation results. But what are nonprofits really doing to evaluate their work? How are they really using evaluation results? What support are they getting? What else do they need?
Author: Innovation Network, Inc.; Morariu, Johanna; Reed, Ehren. Type: Research & Reports Date: Oct 1, 2010 Point K Pick Be the first to review this resource! Download (5.55 MB)