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Session Title: Evaluating Networks: The Evolving Practices, Their Promises and Perils
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Panel Session 954 to be held in Pacific D on Saturday, Nov 5, 2:20 PM to 3:50 PM
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Sponsored by the Non-profit and Foundations Evaluation TIG
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| Chair(s): |
| Kim Ammann Howard, BTW Informing Change, kahoward@btw.informingchange.com
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| Abstract:
In this session we will present three different network evaluation scenarios. We will draw on evaluation work we have done with networks to build social capital in communities, to transform fields of practice, and to achieve policy and population level results. Because networks are complex, dynamic, and self-organizing systems they present unique challenges for evaluators. In each scenario we will describe the evaluation questions that were being asked; the stakeholders involved and what they wanted to learn; and the variety of methods that were used to map connections, capture network effects, and assess network health and impact. We will also consider where value is created in a network learning process, how sponsors and facilitators can interfere with or create the conditions for learning in networks, and the role of the evaluator in the network learning process.
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Evaluating the Strategies and Effects of Investing in a Network of Non-profit Leaders in Boston
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| Claire ReineIt, Leadership Learning Community, claire@leadershiplearning.org
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Urban communities, like Boston, have hundreds of nonprofit organizations that work in different sectors and neighborhoods often with little communication, coordination or collaboration, and sometimes in competition with one another for recognition and resources. In 2005, the Barr Foundation created a fellowship program to honor the City's most talented executive directors and to create the conditions for them to form personal relationships, connect their resources, and work together to improve community well-being. The formation of the network is a process that has unfolded over time and taken shape based on the actions and interactions of its members. This presentation will explore the role of the evaluator in an emergent network process, describe how network mapping and storytelling have been used to document network effects and impacts, and share insights about how to effectively evaluate networks.
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When Networks Don't Materialize: Challenges and Opportunities in Funder-Driven Network Initiatives
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| Melanie Moore, See Change, melanie@seechangeevaluation.com
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Many network initiatives are led by foundations seeking to convene key actors in a particular sector, and set the stage for collective action toward a common goal. Rather than prescribe what the group should do, or how it should be done, or, in some cases, even what the common goal is, many funding organizations that convene groups of grantees and other stakeholders prefer to allow momentum toward collective action to emerge organically. The idea of an instrumental "network" is highly desirable, but there are few clear roadmaps for funders for how to turn a series of convenings into a sustainable network. An analysis of three different funder-driven network initiatives in which functioning, broad-based networks did not form according to the funders' expectations will offer lessons for network architects going forward.
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Evaluating Approaches and Impacts of Networks to Promote Community Health
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| Kim Ammann Howard, BTW Informing Change, kahoward@btw.informingchange.com
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Recognizing that traditional models of health care alone cannot create and sustain healthy communities, The California Endowment and Tides launched a four-year, $10 million effort in 2008 to build on community clinics' strengths and encourage them to form multi-sector networks to more effectively promote community health. In this session, we will describe our experience evaluating the variety of approaches undertaken by the program's 26 grantees to address a wide range of community health issues throughout California, and the resulting impacts. This will include a discussion of: (1) the different tools, processes and learning opportunities that benefited projects and, at the same time, provided important data and learning for funders and evaluators, and (2) opportunities and challenges of evaluating evolving networks that have different foci, project strategies, partners, geographic areas and starting points, and the implications for evaluation design and practices.
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