How Small and Place-Based Foundations and Donors Can Make Big Change With Little Money Funders with few or no staff are perfectly positioned to fund and engage in advocacy. Smaller funders have deep ties to their communities, can act quickly to respond to emerging opportunities, and can focus in a laser-like way. Donors and trustees... Read More
The Getting to Impact Discussion Guides are designed to help you facilitate discussions among your board members or local community of grantmakers with one purpose: to explore and strengthen a commitment to impact with your giving. The first discussion guide helps you understand impact, the importance of pursuing it, and a basic framework for achieving... Read More
This discussion guide can help you think about ways to build consensus within your foundation and convince you that impact is indeed possible and worth pursuing. Using this guide will help your board and staff: Become aware of the problem. Explore what change means to you. Convince others that impact is worth pursuing. The guide... Read More
This discussion guide helps you understand why evaluation is critical to increasing your foundation’s impact and that evaluation is possible—even if small. Your foundation can use this guide to explore: Why to evaluate. The benefits of evaluation. Evaluation and cost-efficiency. The guide also features relevant Exponent Philanthropy primers and resources for your use. 10 pages Read More
This discussion guide helps you define evaluation and its value in measuring your foundation’s impact. The guide highlights how evaluation can help you: Improve your work through learning. Become more effective. Assess your work in a way that’s grounded in your foundation’s priorities and values. Gather information and shed light on one issue at a... Read More
This discussion guide walks you through one foundation’s process of engaging in evaluation. Although this foundation is fictitious, it represents many small funders across the country. Using this guide, you’ll explore how this foundation: Engages in a strategic planning process. Keeps evaluation manageable. Learns and improves. The guide also features relevant Exponent Philanthropy resources as... Read More