Philanthropic Sector Projects
Building Endowments for Community Development
Client: Ford Foundation
Conducted a study of the barriers and opportunities within organized philanthropy to building permanent sources of local philanthropic capital and endowments for community and economic development. Examined five sectors of philanthropy: community foundations, health conversion foundations, family foundations, alternative funds, corporate giving, and social venture capital funds. This study was commissioned to inform internal program planning.
Research and Analysis of Women's Philanthropy
Client: W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Provided design and development assistance to the WKKF’s Philanthropy and Volunteerism unit to expand its programming in women's philanthropy. Research included assessment of the field of women's philanthropy, the role of national funders in supporting programming for women and girls, WKKF's current work in women's philanthropy, connections to social venture philanthropy, and opportunities for advancing the field.
Improved Grantmaking Processes for Women's Fund
Client: Chicago Foundation for Women
Conducted an assessment of grantmaking process as part of its long term strategic planning effort. Provided recommendations for internal restructuring, replacing outdated procedures, and balancing program and fundraising priorities during a period of aggressive growth, resulting in major restructuring of grantmaking operations. Methodology included document reviews, interviews, and focus groups. This assessment resulted in major restructuring of grantmaking operations.
Small Grants Program
Client: Steans Family Foundation
Evaluation planning and management assessment of Chicago's North Lawndale Small Grants program, an initiative aimed at engaging more voluntary groups and unincorporated associations in community improvement projects. Conducted process assessment, developed outcome indicators, and documented best practices of small grant programs nationally.
Evaluation of Community Foundation Diversity Programs
Client: Rainbow Research, Inc.
Member of evaluation team assembled to assess the Ford Foundation's Changing Communities, Diverse Needs initiative, a multi-year effort designed to help community foundations respond to the changing racial and ethnic composition of their communities. The evaluation included five of the 20 foundations participating in the initiative and employed a case study methodology to assess grantmaking, fundraising and internal operations.
Management Assessment of Statewide Coalitions
Client: Ms. Foundation for Women
Conducted a management assessment of Ms. Foundation grantees that support women's health issues. Made recommendations for strengthening the effectiveness of state-level women's health coalitions by employing organizational development and coalition building strategies. Methodology included in-depth telephone interviews, comparative literature reviews, and document reviews. Study resulted in operational changes within statewide coalitions that led to improved policy outcomes.
Action Research for Statewide Coalitions
Client: Ms. Foundation for Women
Conducted a study of social movement building and grassroots organizing as the second in a series of studies designed to inform the work of the Ms. Foundation to build the capacity of statewide social policy networks. Methodology included literature reviews, interviews with researchers and practitioners, and case studies of the civil rights, women's, environmental, and contemporary religious right movements. This report is often used in college-level women's studies courses.
Research and Analysis of Community Foundations
Client: National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy
Conducted research and analysis of community foundations to determine their level of support for disenfranchised groups. Principal Investigator for single-case studies of community foundations in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles. Examined organizational and leadership structures, operations, fundraising, giving patterns, services, and risk tolerance. Also co-authored report based on cross-case analysis of six community foundations. This project resulted in improvements in the community foundations studied and influenced policies and practices within the field.
Evaluation of Corporate Giving to Minorities
Client: National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy
Directed groundbreaking study that examined corporate giving to racial and ethnic organizations, issues and activities. The rigorous data collection and analytic components included the classification of grants made by over 200 Forbes-500 corporations to 535 African-, Asian-, Hispanic-, and Native-American organizations. Existing grants classifications systems, including the Independent Sector's National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities, were synthesized and customized for the purposes of this study. The findings led to a series of reports aimed at increasing corporate giving to racial/ethnic organizations.
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