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From Insight to Action: New Directions in Foundation Evaluation
After a year of research and nearly 100 interviews with foundation leaders and evaluation experts, FSG has released a report that identifies a fundamental transition in the way foundations use evaluation. The study was funded by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and conducted in collaboration with the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers.
Increasingly, foundations are moving beyond traditional third-party outcome studies toward more performance-centered approaches that provide foundations and their grantees with current information and actionable insights. FSG’s report highlights real-life examples of successful evaluation efforts from more than two dozen foundations of all sizes. What unites these examples is their simplicity, clarity of purpose, and forward-looking nature. Each involves a pragmatic effort to gather knowledge in order to improve decision-making and shape future behavior.
FSG’s report is intended to distill the learning and experience of foundations that have used evaluation effectively in order to provide clear guidance to those that are still searching for useful practices.
Download PDF of the report
Download the press release
Case Studies
Listed below are several case studies of foundations and initiatives that were interviewed for From Insight to Action. The case studies are intended to supplement the sidebars on these organizations that were included in the report, providing more detail about the steps that each took to develop its evaluation processes.
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