Evaluation

GEO's new national field survey of grantmaking practice (conducted by research partner TCC Group) examines the connection between listening to and learning with grantees and improving practices to achieve better results. In light of the global economic downturn, this survey also highlights some of the key shifts in grantmaking since 2008 and what they mean for supporting nonprofit resilience.

When foundations make a commitment to getting consistent feedback from their grantees that is candid and comparative, they can make substantive changes that result in different—and better—grantee experiences. Foundations that use the Grantee Perception Report (GPR) more than once are making changes that are benefiting the organizations they fund. In addition to describing the data, the report identifies four keys to driving change as a result of the GPR, based on CEP’s experience delivering results to some 200 foundations.

The nation's foundation community has provided critical financial and technical support to states applying for the first round of the U.S. Department of Education's "Race to the Top" education reform competition. Yet according to this issue brief from the Foundation Center, created from interviews conducted in March and April 2010 with foundation staff, education consultants, and government leaders who had guided the first-round application process in nine states, the success of future collaborations will depend on government including grantmakers in the development of new policies and...

Most of foundations’ efforts to contribute ‘beyond the money’ has little beneficial impact on grantees. More than Money: Making a Difference with Assistance Beyond the Grant reveals that only when foundation staff provide assistance beyond the grant in one of two ways do grantees report a substantially more positive experience with their funders. Three exemplary foundations are profiled: Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, Winter Park Health Foundation, and the Wallace Foundation.