Video Transcript

Philanthropy is a conscious choice to dedicate your resources to make a meaningful difference. But good intentions are not enough.

Assessment Plan

An assessment plan helps you define and measure the progress and success of your efforts. It’s never too late or too early to start assessing!

A good Assessment Plan will answer six questions:

• What are you assessing?
• What principles guide your plan?
• To whom is our philanthropy accountable?
• Who will be involved?
• What are your goals?
• And how will you assess these goals?

What are you assessing?

You’ll want to assess 3 areas:

• Internal: Are your operations and investments effective? How are you learning and growing as a philanthropist?
• Philanthropic strategy: How are you advancing your mission and progressing on the goals you’ve set? How do you monitor and assess the performance of your activities and programs?
• Partners: What is the progress of your grantee organizations, coalitions, or other partners? Are they accomplishing their objectives? What else might they need to be successful?

Remember, to be successful, you’ll need to tailor your assessment efforts to your grantee partners. Not all of them will require robust evaluation.

What principles guide your plan?

Next, ask what principles  guide your plan? Root your assessment plan in your philanthropic purpose—your motivations, values, principles, and priorities. Let the why of your philanthropy guide your giving.

To whom is our philanthropy accountable?

Next, ask yourself, “to whom is our philanthropy accountable?” Think about accountability in broad terms that include your family, your partners, and your community. What are the expectations of your giving?

Who will be involved?

Then consider, who will be involved?

There are many stakeholders, both internal and external, who care about the effectiveness of your work. Internally, they include donors, board and committee members, and family members. Externally, they include partner organizations, community members, experts, and peers. Think through who sets the strategy and goals, who will assess them, and who can use the information that’s collected through assessment.

What are your goals?

After you’ve considered what you’re assessing, what principles guide your assessment, to whom you are accountable, and who will be involved, you’ll need to consider what are your goals?

Assessment can inform your strategy, facilitate improvements, monitor results, and help you understand impact. Clear assessment goals allow you and your partners to target the use of resources you’re dedicating to evaluation.

And how will you assess these goals?

Now that you’ve determined your goals, how will you assess those goals?

Effective evaluation methods include

• observation: What can you observe on your own? This method doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, and can offer real-time feedback.
• self-reporting: What data, experiences, and insights can the people involved share?
• and research: What existing data can you collect from peer philanthropies, government agencies, research groups, or other public sources? Do you want to pay for new research and evaluations?

Remember to work in partnership with your grantees/stakeholders to understand their impact – listening and trust are important aspects of effective evaluation.

What now?

Congratulations you built an assessment plan! Now, how do you keep it alive over time?

Put time on the calendar to discuss assessment and remember that assessment is an iterative process of learning, applying the results, and assessing again. You might tackle a few topics at each board or family meeting, and schedule a retreat every few years to revisit the whole strategy.

But one of the most important things you can do to support effective assessment is to foster a culture of learning.

When people at every level of your organization feel curious and empowered to learn more, your organization as a whole is more successful.

To learn more about Assessment Plans, and download an interactive workbook, visit the National Center for Family Philanthropy’s website.

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