INSIGHT

Why do Foundations Struggle with Evaluation?

There’s lots of discussion about the need to document grantmaking results, but not much evidence that evaluation is being used in meaningful ways. Why is it so hard to get high-quality, useful evaluations in philanthropy? The Johnson Center's Teri Behrens explores the issues – and how to overcome them.

Weekly Reads

“If we want to make any sort of progress toward creating the world we want to see, we must not only continue but increase by tenfold the long, thorny, painful work of digging up the roots of injustice.”  [more]
– Vu Le, Nonprofit AF

“Craft messages that evoke care, agency, the common good, solidarity and interdependence, NOT messages that evoke fear, division, passivity, fatalism and individualism.”  [more]
– Ella Saltmarshe, on Medium

“[T]here’s a great deal that philanthropic funders have done – and can continue to do – to address the threat COVID-19 poses to incarcerated people, and by extension, the public at large.”  [more]
– Philip Rojc, Inside Philanthropy

“Developing strong relationships with government officials, elected or otherwise, enables foundations to assess the political feasibility of their goals and have a seat at the table in important discussions about government policy.”  [more]
– Kate Gehling, Center for Effective Philanthropy