Hewlett Initiative - Association of Small Foundations

Hewlett Grant for Impact Evaluation

Become an ASF Member Donor!

For more information, contact Lennie Magida, at
888-212-9922 or email her.

ASF has received a $230,000 grant from the Hewlett Foundation to undertake a significant Evaluation Initiative and is seeking $145,000 in annual member grants to fully fund the study. The project is divided into two parts: Part I details a plan to measure ASF’s impact; while Part II is an educational campaign to encourage small foundation trustees to raise the significance of their foundations by thinking critically about impact.

The curriculum we envision is important because smaller foundations can perform at high levels of effectiveness, and they want to do so. If ASF’s members boosted their grantmaking effectiveness by just 10 percent, the output would equal that of a new $5 billion foundation. Further, we know that 40 percent of ASF members intend to donate new assets to their foundations, and they tell us that “seeing an impact” and “making a difference” are the top ways to lead to greater satisfaction in giving. We’d like to see these donors not just follow through on their plans to give more money, but to give more than originally planned.

Part I: Impact Evaluation Curriculum Programs and Resources Directed to the ASF Membership

This curriculum will be the intellectual and moral underpinning of ASF’s second decade of programming. Having focused our first decade’s work on foundation operations, the evaluation curriculum will be incorporated in the core programming of our second decade.

Specific outcomes include:

Board and staff members set mission and strategies for the foundation.

Board and staff assess foundation’s progress toward mission.

Board and staff are more deeply skilled and engaged in making grants and other philanthropic work of the foundation.

Board and staff adopt an optimal level of operating efficiency.

Grantees are chosen for their ability to deliver impact, consistent with the strategy of the foundation.

Grants achieve or exceed the impact intended at the time the grant was awarded.

Part II: Impact Evaluation Curriculum Programs - Activities

The educational campaign will include the following activities:

Produce and host “Evaluating Your Foundation” workshop

Produce “Evaluating Your Foundation” case studies, self-evaluation checklist, and primer

Design and host “Evaluating your Foundation” board retreat

Produce and host “Evaluating the Impact of a Grantee” workshop

Produce primer on “How Different Nonprofits Describe Impact”

Produce and host “Evaluating a Grant” workshop

Produce “Evaluating a Grant” primer

Design and rollout marketing materials for above

Initiate baseline plus first follow-on evaluation of users/participants for above