|
Session Title: A Participatory Approach to Analyzing Secondary Data and Sharing Lessons Learned With the Field: A Foundation's Efforts to Evaluate Organizational Effectiveness Grants in a Transparent and Engaging Way
|
|
Panel Session 267 to be held in Balboa C on Thursday, Nov 3, 10:45 AM to 11:30 AM
|
|
Sponsored by the Non-profit and Foundations Evaluation TIG
|
| Chair(s): |
| Jared Raynor, TCC Group, jraynor@tccgrp.com
|
| Abstract:
Foundations (and many nonprofits) are frequently sitting on large piles of data that can provide rich learning opportunities to advance practice but are under-utilized. But how, if at all, can you use these data that have generally not been systematically or uniformly collected? This session discusses successes and challenges from a Foundation's efforts to learn from its "goldmine of data" and disseminate learnings for the field using a participatory approach. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation launched a research project to analyze existing data from its Organizational Effectiveness (OE) Program. The session will discuss the multi-part process that Packard has used to glean insights from the data. One of the most intriguing methodological approaches was the use of social media and other venues to "workshop" findings emerging from analysis of the data as a way to gather community insight regarding interpretation and implications and as an incremental dissemination pattern.
|
|
Making Meaning Together from New Organizational Effectiveness Research: Lessons Learned from a Foundation's Perspective
|
| Kathy Reich, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, kreich@packard.org
|
|
The Packard Foundation's Organizational Effectiveness Program has been working to strengthen grantees of the Foundation for some time. While the OE Program gathered individual grantee findings as it went along, it did not systematically look at the information. After consulting with numerous different stakeholders, Packard decided to launch the OE Goldmine Research Project in April, 2010. After the Data Center collected and organized data on 1300 OE grants, the Packard Foundation made a grant to the TCC Group (a consulting firm that provides planning and evaluation services for foundations and nonprofits) in April, 2011 to analyze the data in a way that engages grantees, consultant and foundation stakeholders. Ms. Reich will discuss how the Foundation approached this project, what it ultimately learned and what challenges and lessons learned it drew from the process.
|
|
|
Opportunities and Challenges of Using a Participatory Approach to Analyze Secondary Data and Disseminate Findings
|
| PeiYao Chen, TCC Group, pchen@tccgrp.com
|
|
Looking at someone else's dataset with fresh eyes presents an array of challenges and opportunities. As the contracted evaluator to look at Packard's OE data, we had the opportunity to engage around this broad dataset. Ms. Chen will discuss the methodology for looking at the dataset and the unique iterative approach of drawing small, incremental findings and using social media, webinars, and stakeholder convenings to gather insights about how to interpret the data, what are the implications and what additional questions does the finding raise. This approach was designed to engage a variety of important stakeholders such as Foundation staff, capacity-building consultants and grantees. Ms. Chen will discuss lessons learned from this approach to "workshoping" findings through a broader community, both in an attempt to better understand the findings as well as to disseminate findings in smaller, digestible chunks.
| |