Written for funders, this 43-page piece is about social entrepreneurship, its relatively new place in the field of philanthropy, and implications for evaluation. Developed from research with grantees and two dozen interviews with funders, it talks about flexibility, leadership, and risk in funding innovation, and why these are key. The clearly-written executive summary explains how the field of social entrepreneurship has invented its own approaches to evaluation that suit its fundamentally different perspective and how these approaches do not always mesh well with those used in other

Los Angeles Poverty Department (LAPD) is a Skid Row-based theater organization, founded and directed by artist John Malpede. LAPD has distinguished itself by its longstanding commitment to making change in L.A.'s Skid Row community, particularly regarding the homeless, through theater-based civic engagement work. Many have observed LAPD's apparent potent effects on individuals and on social relations in Skid Row, and acknowledge its contributions to influencing structures, systems, and even policy.   As part of Animating Democracy's Arts & Civic Engagement Impact Initiative, LAPD and Urban

This piece is an excellent primer on how to think about outcomes and the hurdles that may arise in measuring them. It addresses and deals with challenges such as measuring intangibles. Published by GrantCraft (a division of the Ford Foundation), the eleven-page guide is written for grantmakers to describe outcomes-based evaluation. It defines key terms and makes a case for why outcome measurement is important. The guide has four sections: 1) A concise definition of outcomes, and a contrast of outcomes versus outputs, is followed by three clear, concrete examples of outcomes that can be

Patterns of participation for arts and cultural activities have resisted significant change. In Making Meaningful Connections, The James Irvine Foundation researches attendance patterns of small, community-based cultural organizations and events. Attendance diversification is not only important to organizations that produce "benchmark arts activities," but for smaller organizations that may work within specific demographic populations and would simultaneously like to expand their community participant base.

In Making Data Visualizations: A Survival Guide and Other Resources, Beth Kanter, author of Measuring the Networked Nonprofit, blogs about the importance of data visualization strategies in the nonprofit sector. In this list, Kanter offers her own take on six resources that provide an entry point into the field of visualization. These resources range in length from full books on graphics to brief tips on creating effective yet simple presentations. Below, Animating Democracy notes resources that we believe to be the most useful:

This 35-page report provides a summary of findings and lessons learned by the Neighborhood and Family Initiative (NFI), a comprehensive community initiative launched by the Ford Foundation that began in 1990. NFI was a 10-year effort that sought to strengthen a single neighborhood in each of four cities and to improve the quality of life for the families who live in them. The report is divided into two sections; the first provides a brief overview of NFI while the second section distills the lessons learned by NFI over the course of implementation. The first section discusses the initiative

Read about how the Lambent Foundation leverages the critical role of arts and culture at the intersection of social justice. Through its grantmaking and creative programs, Lambent explores the impact of contemporary art as a strategy for promoting sustainable cultural practices in New York City, New Orleans, and Nairobi. Learn more about the Foundation's current work and Executive Director Michelle Coffey's vision for the future in this paper and podcast interview by Ann McQueen.

This set of resources is useful to organizations that want to increase their social impact. The Kellogg Foundation asks, "Ever wonder if you are getting through to people?" They offer twelve principles in the Knowledge to Understanding framework that aid in knowledge transfer. An introductory video provides a snapshot of the framework and a report and interactive slideshow provides more depth into all twelve guiding principles. The twelve principles are: Right on Time; True, Not New; Look Who's Talking; A New View; Calm Down; Set the Hook; It Takes Two; One Bite at a Time; More than Words;

[NOTE: cited resources not available on the Foundation website as of 12/21/09] The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation funds projects in Canada that foster citizen engagement, build resilient communities and have the potential for national scale or impact. The Foundation focuses on four areas by which to make a difference in the world: (1) promoting active citizenship in order to encourage benefits to both individual and collective well-being that flow from a sense of belonging and contributing to one's community; (2) encouraging the development of resilient communities in order to manage change,

From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this 71-page report defines process evaluation and describes the rationale, benefits, key data collection components, and program evaluation management procedures. Within the framework of discussing tobacco use prevention, this paper is a very good primer for process evaluation for readers in a variety of fields. It provides clear and well-presented charts, graphics, principles, and summaries to help guide readers. The piece is written in five chapters: 1) Introduction; 2) Purposes and Benefits of Process Evaluation; 3) Information Elements