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Content Area: Capacity building

Data Ethics Guidebook

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation invited Informing Change to partner with them in the development of an updated Data Ethics Guidebook. In doing so, we considered the evolving ecosystem of values, players, and circumstances in which evaluation is now happening in philanthropy. While appreciating the insights evaluation work can... Read more »

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Data Ethics Toolkit

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation invited Informing Change to partner with them in the development of an updated Data Ethics Guidebook. In doing so, we considered the evolving ecosystem of values, players, and circumstances in which evaluation is now happening in philanthropy. In addition to the Guidebook, we developed... Read more »

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Case Studies in Distributed Leadership

We, in partnership with Open Mind Consulting and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, researched seven organizations to learn about how they share, collaborate on, and distribute leadership. Looking through the lens of decision making, we discovered that even among this small sample, the ways of distributing power, authority, and responsibility are myriad.... Read more »

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A Guide to Organizational Capacity Assessment Tools

There are dozens of organizational capacity assessment tools. How do you determine which one is right for your organization? We partnered with the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s Effective Philanthropy Group to scan the landscape of organizational capacity assessment tools and gather insights from organizational capacity professionals about the best... Read more »

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Building a Data-Driven Culture: The Heartbeat of Value-Based Care

In this case study, we draw upon our evaluation findings from the Safety Net Analytics Program (SNAP) to explore how safety net healthcare organizations can successfully create and sustain data-driven cultures. The work of gaining staff buy-in—let alone training staff in different aspects of data analytics—building data infrastructure and using... Read more »

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A Model for Improving Health Care Data Analytics

The Safety Net Analytics Program (SNAP), implemented by Center for Care Innovations and funded by California Health Care Foundation, was created to help safety net organizations develop a data-driven culture and to strengthen the people, processes and technology behind data analytics. SNAP engaged 20 grantee teams to grow and develop... Read more »

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Views on Growing Impact from Grantmakers and Nonprofits: Select Highlights from the Evaluation of GEO’s Scaling What Works Initiative

From 2010 to 2014, Scaling What Works was a multi-year learning initiative of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO) to expand the number of grantmakers and public sector funders who are working together to grow the impact of high-performing nonprofit organizations. Through the Initiative, GEO offered training, networking opportunities, and a host of... Read more »

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Mission Possible: Healthcare Safety Net Integration

For the past few years, healthcare administrators and providers have been getting ready for the Affordable Care Act by re-examining and making changes to their current systems. They are preparing for an influx of newly insured patients, attempting to position themselves as providers of choice within their communities and working... Read more »

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Building Capacity to Promote Community Health: The Experience to Date of the Community Clinics Initiative’s Networking for Community Health Program

In 2008, The Community Clinics Initiative (CCI) launched their Networking for Community Health (NCH) grantmaking program. The program was designed to support California community clinics in strengthening their working relationships with both traditional and non-traditional partners. Over the past three years, CCI has supported clinics’ projects that work on a... Read more »

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Final Evaluation of the Low Income Investment Fund’s Constructing Connections Pilot: 2004-2009: Executive Summary

The Low Income Investment Fund’s ABCD Initiative supports the development of quality child care facilities in California. In this report, Informing Change took an in-depth look at one of the initiative’s strategies—Constructing Connections. Through this strategy, LIIF supported local collaborative teams consisting of child care operators, developers, civic leaders, small... Read more »

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Coaching and Philanthropy: An Action Guide for Coaches

What does it take to become an effective coach in the nonprofit sector? How can coaches assess leaders’ readiness for coaching? How can coaches ensure a successful engagement? These are just a few of the questions that Coaching and Philanthropy: An Action Guide for Coaches addresses in this guide that... Read more »

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Coaching and Philanthropy: An Action Guide for Grantmakers

How does coaching differ from other types of nonprofit supports? Why should grantmakers support coaching? When and how should coaching be used? These are just a few of the questions that Coaching and Philanthropy: An Action Guide for Grantmakers addresses in this guide that highlights the findings from the Coaching... Read more »

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Making the Most of Evaluation

During Informing Change’s multi-year evaluation of the Community Clinics Initiative (CCI), we observed that CCI was particularly effective in extracting knowledge and lessons while the evaluation was underway. This made their grantmaking more responsive and strategic. In this article, we identify five tactics that CCI used to ensure that the... Read more »

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Designing Learning Communities for Enhanced Impact

Informing Change’s evaluations often include structured experiences to help participants understand the process and what can be learned from it. In this article, Informing Change’s Director of Evaluation and Organizational Learning outlines key factors for successful learning communities and describes benefits of participation to funders. This article first appeared in LEARNING, the... Read more »

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The Cost of a Volunteer

Informing Change conducted an examination of 21 volunteer programs nationwide to assess the true cost of organizing a high-quality volunteer program. The study helped the field better understand the implications of the President’s Call to Service for the nonprofit sector. Read the results of the review and find out what... Read more »

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