Northern California Grantmakers

Yesterday the Foundation Center’s PhilanTopic blog posted an interview with Courtney Bourns, Director of Programs for Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO).

During the 16 minute interview, Patricia Pasqual, Director of the Foundation Center’s Washington D.C. office,  discussed with Courtney the new report Evaluation in Philanthropy: Perspectives from the Field.

“Co-published by GEO and the Council on Foundations, the report examines a number of approaches to evaluation and offers real-life examples of their implementation.”

Check out the full PhilanTopic blog post and listen the interview online.

Evaluation in Philanthropy:
Perspectives from the Field
Released with the Council on Foundations, this publication explores how evaluation can help grantmakers learn and improve practices (not just “prove” results).
+ download PDF
+ executive summary
News Release + more

The Foundation Center has announced the beta launch of “of an online database of Tools and Resources for Assessing Social Impact (TRASI).”

“TRASI contains a comprehensive listing of 150 approaches to measuring and analyzing social impact for programs and investments. Authored by a range of organizations, including social investors, foundations, NGOs, microfinance institutions, and others seeking social change, these resources range from off-the-shelf tools and concrete methodologies to generalized best practices.”

The Foundation Center plans to officially launch TRASI in the spring of 2010. If you’re interested in learning more about TRASI or in participating in the beta testing sign up online.