By Elaine Gast Fawcett, on behalf of ASF
Small-staffed foundations have caught the What Works fever. They want to know what works in their grantmaking in order to have the most impact. After all, the more foundations can show how their own grants are making a difference, the more value they can bring to their communities.
To find out what works, foundations look to evaluation. But in small-staffed foundations, who has the time for evaluation? And among those who do evaluation, how much of the data gathered is actually meaningful or valuable?
According to John Bare of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation in Atlanta, the What Works fever (he calls it a movement) evolved from the notion that we can use science to cure social problems. In his example: Just as water boils at a certain temperature, we can apply certain factors to all small towns that will eliminate teen pregnancy.
If only it were that easy. Continue reading
