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…

What It Is A theory of change is a tool to help organizations articulate their social change initiatives. A  theory of change is a clear articulation of the problem an organization or program is setting out to address; the strategies it employs to address the problem; the target constituencies (organizations and/or individuals that will be reached by the strategies); and…

I’ve always enjoyed cleaning out a messy drawer or cupboard—pulling everything out, sorting the contents by category or size, choosing which items to discard and which to keep, and then putting things back in an orderly way. Sometimes the process reveals a new way to stack or arrange things, or prompts me to acknowledge that some things no longer belong…

  Not many people know that when our founders brainstormed a name for the company, one of the options they considered was Informing Change. For me, rebranding and adopting Informing Change as our name circles back to the company’s roots and reaffirms our very purpose for being. Our purpose is the reason why I embraced the position of leading this…

Virtually everyone asks you to take a survey—your job, restaurants, stores, schools, airports and the list goes on. It’s been reported that American adults are invited to take surveys 7 billion times a year. There have even been surveys about what people think of surveys (they’re not too crazy about them)! Not too long ago, surveys were generally reserved for…

I recently attended a wonderful lecture through UC Berkeley Extension by UCB Public Health Professor William Dow. “Health Care Reform Update: Post-Affordable Care Act (ACA) Progress and Challenges” was an unexpectedly satisfying way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon. It was a quick, digestible run-down of what health care reform entails, what’s been implemented to date and what’s coming in…