Investing in People

Foundations have long created programs to provide grants to individuals—most often in the form of fellowships, scholarships, and prizes. Several of these programs have become so prominent that they are now institutions in and of themselves. Consider just a few examples: the Pulitzer Prize, Fulbright Program, and MacArthur "genius" awards. Governments, as well as foundations large and small, fund individual support programs.The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has generously allowed the authors of this report to examine its portfolio of individual support programs to explore what the authors believe are some of the strategic fundamentals underlying this type of programming that could be applied to future individual support grantmaking. The purpose of this study is to inform those interested in individual support programs about not only some of the strategy considerations underlying this type of grantmaking but what these programs can be expected to achieve—and under what circumstances.

Beyond the Veneer of Strategic Philanthropy

· “Strategic philanthropy” has become a dominant theme among foundations in the past few decades. · While many foundations have developed strategic plans, few have made the internal changes necessary to actually behave strategically. · Four challenges to strategic philanthropy are identified, including strategies developed in isolation from grantees that execute them and misaligned foundation structures, processes, and cultures that do not support strategic endeavors. · In order to get beyond the veneer of strategic philanthropy, foundation leaders need to be clearer about their own role in creating change, develop the strategic capacities to do so, and then apply those capacities, learn from them, and improve them over time

Necessary and Not Sufficient: the State of Evaluation Use in Foundations

Over the last decade "strategic philanthropy" has dominated the thinking of many big and ambitious foundations. Theoretically, foundations of this kind not only provide grant support to nonprofits, but importantly, assess social problems, develop strategies to solve them, and track the results of their efforts over time

The Evaluation Conversation: A Path to Impact for Foundation Boards and Executives

Explores changing the role of evaluation in philanthropy, from a method for measuring program outcomes to a tool for achieving foundation effectiveness and accountability. Part of the series "Practice Matters: The Improving Philanthropy Project"

Improving Care at the End of Life

Reviews RWJF's investments in improving end-of-life care, impact on the field, and lessons learned, including the need to coordinate objectives, integrate strategies, tie strategies to policy changes and incentives, and link communications and evaluation

Changing Stakeholder Needs and Changing Evaluator Roles: The Central Valley Partnership of the James Irvine Foundation

This case study describes the evolution of the evaluator's role as the program evolved and developed, and as the needs of the client and intended users changed over time. The initiative aimed to assist immigrants in California's Central Valley. The case illustrates important tensions among accountability, learning and capacity building purposes of evaluation

Evaluation in Foundations: The Unrealized Potential

The purpose of this paper is to examine the uses of evaluation in foundations. It summarizes the results of a study carried out by surveys and interviews to representative of 21 American foundations

Death is Certain; Strategy Isn't: Assessing the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's End-of-Life Grantmaking

This report describes a strategic assessment of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's 20-year investment in end-of-life grantmaking. It illustrates the issues raised in conducting an assessment of a strategy rather than of a single program or initiative

Toward More Effective Use of Intermediaries: Discussion Guide

This study guide is designed to help you think through the concepts presented in Peter Szanton's monograph, Toward More Effective Use of Intermediaries, and consider how you might apply them in the everyday practice of philanthropy. The guide contains a series of exercises intended to stimulate individual reflection and serve as the basis for group discussion

Acts of Commission: Lessons from an Informal Study - Discussion Guide

This discussion guide is designed to help you think through the concepts presented in Janice Nittoli's paper, Acts of Commission: Lessons from an Informal Study, and consider how you might apply them in the everyday practice of philanthropy.The guide contains four exercises:The first exercise provides a role-play to explore the match between a commission strategy and foundation goals and mission.The second exercise presents a template to plan a commission's membership, and assure that it contains a balanced and diverse group of decisionmakers.The third exercise involves creating a "History of the Future" to identify the combination of elements that lead to a successful commission.The fourth exercise offers a series of questions to help a foundation staff person prepare to work with a media consultant to promote a commission's work.Following the exercises, a resource page contains Nittoli's checklist to help funders assess their readiness to launch a policy commission