Different levels of evaluation1/Focus of evaluation
Project-level/Grant monitoring evaluations
Project evaluation aims to assess the individual grant and investigate whether or not a grant’s recipient achieves the promised outcomes. It can be defined as the ongoing collection and analysis of information for use in decision-making. When performing grant evaluation, foundations usually distinguish between ex ante grant evaluation (before agreeing to give grant for the project proposal) and ex post grant evaluation (after the grant is provided and the project is being implemented). Both methods are based on criteria defined to best capture the required information. Foundations can use standard criteria developed by governments or the private sector when assessing project value, or fix ad hoc grant-making criteria according to a single project’s characteristics. For each of these phases, the relevant questions to ask and evaluation activities may differ between foundations.
Examples
- A recent study2 promoted by the Unidea Unicredit Foundation (Italy) concluded that for Italian banking foundations the main recurrent ex ante project evaluation criteria are: innovation, focus on the territory, presence of co-financing, social impact, network capability, collaboration with other public institutions and the private sector.
- Regarding ex post grant evaluation, the Lloyds TSB Foundation for England & Wales (United Kingdom) defines a monitoring and evaluation policy which focuses on evaluating the difference the grant has made as well as the challenges faced3.
- For the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation (United Kingdom) ex post evaluation should consider the project’s strengths and weaknesses and analyse success and failure.
Cluster-level/ Programme evaluation
Programme evaluation is carried out by clustering a set of grants and sorting them according to common elements. Evaluations of grant clusters or programme initiatives allow the foundation to achieve economies of scale by contracting one external professional evaluator to work across multiple organisations and sites.
Example
- Fondation de France (France) started an
evaluation of programs in 2005, aiming to evaluate the projects supported over a six-year period. The foundation considered this approach the most appropriate to verify whether the projects were still relevant over the long term and whether they could still be ‘innovative’ in a societal context (an evaluation of societal needs, changes in laws, etc.). The evaluation process confirmed the validity of most projects but, in some cases, it revealed that some kinds of project no longer needed to be supported owing to changes in the law. However, the evaluation findings recommended tackling emerging needs, or parts of the programme objectives which remain under-represented in legislation.
Impact-level/ Policy-making evaluation
This type of evaluation looks at a foundation’s overall impact on the outside world. European foundations increasingly use evaluation to understand better the results of their funding efforts, enabling them to inform the wider public about their actions and influence activities by civil society and public authorities.
Examples
- The Bernard van Leer Foundation (Netherlands) undertook The Effectiveness Initiative (EI) in 1999 to explore the characteristics and origins of effectiveness in the early childhood development programmes they funded. This evaluation process aimed to promote an international dialogue on effectiveness that deepens understanding of how to create and/or support effective programming for young children and families.
- The Health Foundation (United Kingdom) stresses in its evaluation approach how a rigorous programme of evaluation is central to its strategy for improving the quality of healthcare, communicating the evaluation’s findings to decision-makers in the field, and providing a forum for evidence-based analysis and debate about quality and health system performance issues.
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[1] Striving for philanthropic success: effectiveness and evaluation in foundations. - Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Foundation, 2001
[2] Valutare il non profit : per una misurazione condivisa delle attività associative/Nadio Delai (ed.). - Milan : Bruno Mondadori, 2005
[3] For more information, http://www.lloydstsbfoundations.org.uk/monitoring.html