Foundations and Evaluation – Contexts and Practices for Effective Philanthropy

"Gathered together in this unique book on evaluation and effective foundation practice are the experience-based perspectives and measured insights of both seasoned practitioners and key philanthropic thought leaders. Foundations and Evaluation is a substantial think piece for grantmakers of any size."
--Dorothy S. Ridings, president and CEO, Council on Foundations

"Foundations and Evaluation explores the intersection between organizational effectiveness and evaluation and demonstrates the need for commitment to evaluation throughout the foundation. . . . A good read for both newcomers to evaluation and those with more experience, written by some of the most highly respected leaders in the field."
--Kathleen P. Enright, executive director, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations

"In this book, evaluation luminaries provide valuable advice on how to put evaluation to work for foundations. The twin emphases of the book are developing foundations' capacities to do evaluation and making sound use of the resulting evidence to advance philanthropic work. Foundation officers and boards-and grantees, too-can learn a lot."
--Carol H. Weiss, Beatrice B. Whiting Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education

"This volume offers a much-needed look at an overlooked topic. As a former evaluator-on-call for a small community foundation, I created my own guidelines-and made my own mistakes-since no book like this existed. Those of us who teach evaluation will find that the book offers clear and useful examples of one important domain for evaluation. In fact, this book can be valuable for all evaluators, not just those in foundations."
--Sharon F. Rallis, professor, University of Connecticut, and president, American Evaluation Association, 2004-05