| Session Title: The Network of Network Funders: Evaluating Networks and Evaluating with a Network Lens |
| Think Tank Session 895 to be held in CROCKETT C on Saturday, Nov 13, 2:50 PM to 4:20 PM |
| Sponsored by the |
| Presenter(s): |
| Astrid Hendricks, California Endowment, ahendricks@calendow.org |
| Discussant(s): |
| Gale Berkowitz, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, gberkowitz@packard.org |
| Mayur Patel, John S and James L Knight Foundation, patel@knightfoundation.org |
| Gigi Barsoum, California Endowment, gbarsoum@calendow.org |
| Abstract: Over the past year, a community of practice of national and local funders has been collaboratively learning to address the challenges of defining, funding, assessing, and documenting networks as a philanthropic investment strategy. This think tank session will begin by introducing the core findings from the 2010 Grantmakers for Effective Organizations report on foundations and networks and engage participants in a discussion of the specific issues of evaluating networks and evaluation within networks. Participants will be asked to discuss the principles and capacity needed to evaluate networks effectively, best methods and frameworks for defining and assessing networks, examples of effective evaluations of networks, and recommendations for additional demonstration and documentation of network evaluations. |