Last month, organizations across the US celebrated Summer Learning Day, a nationally recognized day to raise awareness and support for summer learning and enrichment. We, along with the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, commemorated the day by releasing More Than Supply and Demand: The State of Technical Assistance for Expanded Learning Programs in California. In our nine-year engagement with the…

As a graduate student in evaluation, I find myself often pondering how research on evaluation can or should enrich evaluation practice. So, during my summer internship at Informing Change, I organized a pop-up journal club—an opportunity for evaluators to read and discuss evaluation research with their colleagues. I circulated a few theory papers via email and the group elected to…

The recently-released monograph by Jill Blair and Malka Kopell The collective impact movement is beginning to shift the landscape of place-based investment. It is proving its greatest value as a formula for building community capacity to solve public problems. However, in order for communication, resources and action to move across the various players in collective impact efforts, a healthy civic…

Navigating the power dynamics between consultants, grantees and funders is already a challenge with any consulting engagement. Add to those relationships a partnership and consultants’ existing relationships with funders and grantees, and communication and transparency between all parties become more important than ever. By Natalie Blackmur A funder should not assume that each consultant in a partnership has the same…

Our primary motivation for publishing our article about philanthropy-consulting partnerships in the Foundation Review was to start the conversation on what makes a good partnership. Without the following essential elements for success, philanthropy-consulting partnerships risk becoming burdensome and ineffective for both the funder and the consultants. By Natalie Blackmur A funder’s decision to tap a philanthropy-consulting partnership for a project should be…

To accompany our Foundation Review article, we’re doing a series of mini-infographics on philanthropy-consulting partnerships. Why engage in a philanthropy-consulting partnership? Here’s our answer: By Natalie Blackmur Consultants often reach out to one another in order to take on a project they couldn’t take on alone. This gives each consultant experience he or she wouldn’t otherwise have. For funders, not…

Over the years we’ve had both productive and challenging experiences working with other consultants on philanthropy projects. Based on these experiences, and in talking with other consultants in the field, we realized there’s a noticeable gap in the literature on how to navigate these philanthropy-consulting partnerships. This prompted us to write an article for the Foundation Review to spark the…

As part of welcoming our new director, Anjie Rosga, to the Informing Change family, I sat down with her to chat about what she’s bringing to our practice, why she’s committed to evaluation and learning and what makes the Bay Area home for her. What most excites you about working at Informing Change? The way Informing Change aligns its mission and values externally and…

Sample Size and Representativeness When it comes to how big a survey sample should be, a couple of factors come into play. In my last post, I talked about the importance of power in statistical significance tests. In sum: a bigger sample is usually better—there’s more of an opportunity to discern relationships. However, if we have a big sample but only…

Sample Size and Power I get this question all the time: “How many survey respondents do we need?” The short answer: as many as resources allow. Here’s the long answer: There are two aspects that play into how big your sample size should be: statistical significance and representativeness. Today, let’s talk about statistical significance. For example, let’s find out if American…

I live in the eye of an innovative storm. The push for innovative thinking and “disruptive” technologies is almost palpable in the San Francisco Bay Area. With Silicon Valley heavyweights churning out new technologies, top-tier universities training young professionals with skills of the future, and leading healthcare institutions pioneering cutting-edge research, I am often amazed by the brilliant ideas introduced…

As many individuals and organizations around the world continue to celebrate Intentional Women’s Day, I’m personally reminded of how our clients and colleagues inspire change for women around the world. At Informing Change we work with our partners in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors to address issues of access in education, health, leadership, and beyond, including many organizations that specifically…

Much of our work here at Informing Change is focused on civic engagement and volunteerism. Our clients utilize civic engagement strategies to develop leaders, change public policy, promote cross-sector collaboration, and more. They embrace volunteerism as a tool for social change, to improve people’s lives and to make a difference in our communities. So, it’s not a surprise that sometimes…

What a year it has been! 2013 ushered Informing Change into our new look and name, taking us across the U.S. to work with you—our clients—to advance your missions and create change. Here are some highlights of our travels and learnings. We hit the road on a three-city tour with our partner, ChangeCraft (formerly the Center for Leadership Initiatives), and…

Strong partnerships with our clients are essential to our collective success. This is especially true with long-term evaluations, which unfold over time as their focus, needs and contexts change. For these partnerships to be most effective, we have noted a few essentials ingredients. √ Essential Ingredient #1: Thought Partnership It is critical that both the client and evaluator approach one…