Transcript Evaluation in European Foundation: Trends and Perspectives

Evaluation in European Foundations:
Trends and Perspectives
Andrew Barnett
UK Branch Director
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
Outline
1. Two key trends
2. Our recent experience of designing an
evaluation system
3. What is evaluation for?
Lifecycle of a programme
1
• Scoping: research and consultation to identify most effective intervention in response to
an issue/problem
2
• Objectives and outcomes: developing a plan of activity to maximise beneficial impact
including determining what success might look like.
3
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5
6
• Implementation: might include funding pilot projects.
• Evaluation: assessing impact and discerning learning.
• Dissemination: targeted communication of the learning to those who can make a
difference, can change systems, scale or replicate successful initiatives.
• Exit: concluding the programme
Trend 1: Focus on ‘effectiveness’
Traditional giving helps one person or
organisation at a time by providing support for
immediate needs. Strategic philanthropy focuses
on systemic change and builds for the future.
Centre for Effective Philanthropy
Foundation sector in Europe is growing
dynamically
• 110,000 ‘public-benefit
foundations’ in the EU
• 43% set up as recently as the
early 1990s (many of these
small and associated with
‘new wealth’)
• Foundations in Europe spend
between €83 billion and €150
billion annually, over twice as
much as the US foundation
sector
• Direct full-time employment:
between 750,000 to 1 million
people in the EU
Some important players – but not
really a movement
• Bertelsmann Foundation
(Germany)
• Compagnia di San Paolo (Italy)
• King Baudouin Foundation
(Belgium)
• Bernard van Leer Foundation
(Netherlands)
International network of strategy
philanthropy (2001-2005)
Publication: Rethinking
Philanthropic Effectiveness (2005)
Foundations are magpies.
They rarely stick with one
way of approaching
evaluation.
Gerry Salole, EFC
Trend 2: the quest to measure value
Helping all organisations identify, measure
and evaluate their organisational
outcomes would be hugely valuable as a
whole... Funders and commissioners have
a vital role to play in incentivising good
outcomes measurement – funders need to
incorporate evaluation data into
subsequent rounds of grant giving in order
for organisations to see a return for their
efforts, and commissioners need to put
money aside in contracts specifically for
the evaluation of projects.
Measuring Social Value Demos 2010
Examples
UK Players:
New Economics Foundation
New Philanthropy Capital
NCVO
Charities Evaluation Services
Cabinet Office
Principles of SROI
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Involve stakeholders
Understand what changes
Value the things that matter.
Only include what is material.
Do not over claim.
Be transparent.
Verify the result
Our experience: drivers and lessons
• Need to maximise impact
• Need to tell a compelling story to partners and
collaborators and to the wider sectors
• Need to extract learning from individual
activities
• Desire to set an example and to lead: to be at
the forefront of thinking and practice
Key stages in the journey
• Develop a strategy and operationalise the
strategy
• Go live as soon as possible – ‘retrofit’ existing
projects and apply system to new or early
stage projects
• Use an external consultant to draw strands
together and co-devise a system with the
team – codify the process, make it explicit.
• Review and iterate. And keep on doing it.
Our strategy
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One overriding purpose which links to
3 main strategic aims which link to
3 objectives under each aim which reflect
Time-limited programmes and activities
1 cross-cutting aim concerned with capacity
A vital planning and management tool:
the evaluation cycle
From implicit to explicit
Main lessons learned
• Evaluation is the means not the end.
• It is part of your planning tool box.
• At the most back level, an evaluation system consists of
making the implicit explicit.
• Everyone needs to own any evaluation system.
• A good evaluation system should not constrain but
should provide greater freedom.
• Be realistic about measuring long term top-level
impact
• The system should focus on the programme level and
above
Live design by users
Our emerging ‘theory of change’
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Scoping
Coalition building
Persuading
Demonstrating
Learning and improvement
Concluding questions
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What is evaluation for?
What do you believe to be the main drivers?
What’s your journey like?
Questions for me.
For more information
[email protected]
www.gulbenkian.org.uk