Nina Gantcheva's Blog (13)

Last summer, Matthew Forti of the Bridgespan Group interviewed the director of Strategy, Measurement, and Evaluation at the Gates Foundation, Jodi Nelson for the Stanford Social Innovation Review. In this fascinating interview, Jodi offers insights into how the Foundation approaches measurement and evaluation (M&E) as an integral part of strategic…

3ie published a report this summer highlighting alternative methodologies for qualitative impact evaluation. Some, like Outcome Mapping, are featured in TRASI, while others will be considered for inclusion. These methods attempt to show a cause and effect link between a program's activities and its…

The Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) 2012 conference kicked off today in Glen Cove, NY. Over the next three days, sessions will explore themes ranging from triangulating impact to making the case for philanthropy in impact investing to how social impact bonds can be used in emerging markets.

Here's a description from Aspen's web site:

Each year, the ANDE Annual Conference is the largest gathering of members from around the globe. The event is…

Check out Philanthropy News Digest's fantastic 5 Questions for... Mario Morino interview. Co-founder and chair of Venture Philanthropy Partners, Marino makes the case that nonprofit leaders can and should choose to manage to outcomes. He discusses his book, Leap of Reason: Managing to Outcomes In an Era of Scarcity, with PND's Mitch…

On Monday, Elyse Klova and I hosted our first-ever twitter chat as @FCAtlanta and @GrantSpace respectively. We had an engaging crowd of nonprofits, foundations, and consultants from across the globe answer our questions, and pose some thought-provoking…

If you're interested in evaluating early childhood education, family involvement, and/or advocacy take a look at the Harvard Family Research Project. They have a wealth of publications and resources on strategic evaluation. Here is a sampling of titles and descriptions from their web site that caught my eye:…

FSG has posted videos of their Collective Impact Conference, which took place on March 23, 2011. (We have previously posted about FSG's Collective Impact article here. You can also view their White House Council on Community Solutions meeting video and our…

Should foundations publicize their assessment results? For an interesting blog post on this topic by Center for Effective Philanthropy's (CEP) VP of Assessment Tools, Kevin Bolduc, check out Transparency Talk, the Foundation Center's Glasspockets blog. (To learn more about what Glasspockets has to offer, read the following…

Keystone Accountability's 2011 Network Performance Survey is open for registration. It is one of a series of benchmark surveys that enable groups of like organizations to hear from their beneficiaries in a way that allows them to compare their feedback with that of other organizations. The network survey is designed for transnational networks and repeats the first successful run of this survey…

Over the holidays, philanthropy blogger Lucy Bernholz outlined 3 vital questions that individual donors need to consider before choosing which nonprofit should make the cut:

1. What does the organization do?
2. How do they do it?
3. How do they know if they are making a difference?

In this…

The Alliance for Nonprofit Management recently announced this webinar: "Evaluation of Capacity Building: What is Being Learned and Who Cares?"

The presenters will be:…

Accountability and information sharing are critical to measuring the effectiveness of a program.  Many of the best practices featured in TRASI  advocate transparency as a starting place for discussions around outcomes measurement. 

For example, the…