|
Session Title: What About the Funders?
|
|
Panel Session 644 to be held in BONHAM B on Friday, Nov 12, 3:35 PM to 4:20 PM
|
|
Sponsored by the Non-profit and Foundations Evaluation TIG
|
| Chair(s): |
| Beth Bruner, Effectiveness Initiatives, bbruner@brunerfoundation.org
|
| Abstract:
The Bruner Foundation has invested in enhancing evaluation capacity and promoting evaluative thinking within nonprofit organizations for more than a decade. After years of hearing directly from funders and indirectly about them, the Foundation decided to tackle the challenge of learning more about how and what would really help promote evaluative thinking and learning for grantmakers. Designed by Bruner and Baker, an evaluator and evaluation trainer, the Evaluation in Philanthropy training pilot has involved two mid-sized, place-based funders in a brief multi-session training process focused on evaluation and evaluative thinking. Through the experience, the Bruner Foundation has gained some important insights about what funders need, what does and doesn’t work regarding training, and why what’s required of grantees isn’t always practiced by grantmakers in their own organizations. These findings and details about next steps and available resources will be presented and discussed in this session.
|
|
What About the Funders? Why and How Evaluation Capacity Building Matters in Philanthropic Organizations Too
|
| Beth Bruner, Bruner Foundation Inc, bbruner@brunerfoundation.org
|
|
The Bruner Foundation has invested in enhancing evaluation capacity and promoting evaluative thinking within nonprofit organizations for more than a decade. After years of hearing directly from funders and indirectly about them, the Foundation decided to tackle the challenge of learning more about how and what would really help promote evaluative thinking and learning for grantmakers. Designed by Bruner and Baker, an evaluator and evaluation trainer, the Evaluation in Philanthropy training pilot has involved two mid-sized private funders in a brief multi-session training process focused on evaluation and evaluative thinking. This part of the panel session will focus on why the Bruner Foundation has raised these questions, how grantmakers responded, and more importantly why evaluative thinking is important to grantmakers.
|
|
|
What About the Funders? Results From the Evaluation Use in Philanthropy Pilot
|
| Anita Baker, Anita Baker Consulting, abaker8722@aol.com
|
|
The Bruner Foundation has invested in enhancing evaluation capacity and promoting evaluative thinking within nonprofit organizations for more than a decade. After years of hearing directly from funders and indirectly about them, the Foundation decided to tackle the challenge of learning more about how and what would really help promote evaluative thinking and learning for grantmakers. During this part of the panel session, findings from the Evaluation in Philanthropy training pilot, which has involved two mid-sized private funders in a brief multi-session training process focused on evaluation and evaluative thinking, will be shared. Specifically, insights will be shared about what funders need and what does and doesn’t work regarding training. Discussion will be encouraged regarding why what’s required of grantees isn’t always practiced by grantmakers in their own organizations and how to better address that gap. Details about next steps and available resources will also be presented.
| |