Over the last week, the Improve Group has shared information at the request of the Minnesota Council of Foundations and the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits.

Last Wednesday (Aug. 1), Leah spent three hours talking with local foundations about evaluation at the August session of the Effective Grantmaking series. Interestingly, she had just met with a program officer from a local foundation and had a lively debate about the ethics of grantmakers evaluating programs -- how much do agendas and priorities change when a major funder evaluates their efforts? There was also an article in the New York Times (registration required) talking about what happens when major philanthropic initiatives are evaluated to lukewarm (or strikingly negative) results.

The participants in the workshop seemed equally concerned with the practical aspects of evaluation - how do you get people to give you data, how do you ask questions that get at the information you need, and how do you target some funds for evaluation work when the foundation has a mandate to invest in direct-service organizations. We talked through some pragmatic tools (such as using an on-line survey to supplement or replace grantee annual reports) and the formality of evaluation required at different funding and investment levels.

Yesterday (Aug. 6), Susan and Leah presented at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits Network Leadership Conference about community engagement. Key among their messages was that engagement shouldn't be too difficult, but does take time and yes, money. The results of community engagement should be better programs, more support for new or changing initiatives, and a better sense of community needs. Despite having the dreaded after-lunch time slot, over 70 people attended the session and had great insights to share with their colleagues, including: (1) don't assume that because you are interested in something, others will be too; (2) you will continue to see the rewards of engagement years later when your community sees you as a leader on a specific issue; and (3) tap into youth or local experts to help you with something that feels intimidating (such as blogging!)

We are considering expanding the community engagement presentation into a larger workshop as part of the Improve Group's workshop series. Is this a topic that interests your organization? Let us know!