Rochester Grantmakers Forum
A professional association of foundations, corporations, government representatives, philanthropic organizations and individuals;
 the Forum serves as a catalyst and resource for effective philanthropy.

by Dr. Anita Baker, Evaluation Partner

The Rochester Effectiveness Partnership (REP) began as a two-year pilot, participatory evaluation project involving funders, evaluators, non-profit human service agencies, and other organizations seeking to determine and improve the effectiveness of their work. REP began in 1996 because a group of collaborators including the Bruner Foundation, Rochester Grantmakers Forum, the Advertising Council of Rochester, the City of Rochester, United Way of Greater Rochester and Anita Baker, a professional evaluator, all believed that helping non-profit and funding organizations conduct and use program evaluation data was an important capacity-building strategy.

The REP pilot project focused on two main goals:

(1) educating all partners about effectiveness and evaluation; and

(2) contributing to the efforts of a Northeast Rochester neighborhood to strengthen families.

Pilot partners included: Provider Partners--Action for a Better Community, Girl Scouts of Genesee Valley, Lewis Street Center, and Planned Parenthood of Rochester and Genesee Valley; Funding Partners--Bruner Foundation, Frontier Corporation, Halcyon Hill Foundation, Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation; Assisting Partners--Advertising Council of Rochester, City of Rochester, United Way of Greater Rochester; Administrative Partner--Rochester Grantmakers Forum; Evaluation Partner--Anita Baker.

The REP pilot met its preliminary goals, producing positive outcomes for its partner organizations . and more limited outcomes for the target neighborhood. Five key lessons were learned during the pilot:

Participatory evaluation was a viable strategy for strengthening organizational capacity. There were individual and program impacts: the individual provider trainees were able to learn and apply the evaluation techniques to enhance programs. There were also participatory impacts: the organizations supported the training and evaluation efforts, began to foster REP values throughout the organizations, and involved the trainees in evaluation-related activities beyond the scope of REP projects.

Funders acknowledged that they wanted and needed to know more about evaluation and other ways to help support their grantees. Through participating in an Effectiveness Study Group, funders learned important information, applied what they learned and began to change their grantmaking and in some cases organizational practices.

The broader community increased its dialogue about thoughtful evaluation, effectiveness, and partnership. They identified REP as an important vehicle in those efforts.

Addressing the goals of the pilot required substantial commitment of resources including time, organizational and financial support.

The partnership among providers, funders, assisting organizations, Grantmakers Forum and the lead evaluator was a critical element in the pilot’s effectiveness.

These five lessons were the crux of REP learning and have applications beyond the Rochester community. They will also guide the project during the second phase of REP.

 

 

Challenges

While evaluation of REP (conducted by all partners in an effort to model participatory evaluation) showed that REP met its original goals and produced outcomes for multiple participants, it also revealed ongoing challenges.

The evaluation training is intensive and time-consuming. Expanding participatory evaluation practices within and across agencies will require ongoing systematic efforts.

Phase 2 will present new management challenges because there will be new organizations among each of the partner groups, and differing levels of experience with participatory evaluation among the partners. The impact of agency size on replication efforts remains unclear.

As interest and capacity to conduct evaluation-related activities increases, the need for financial support will also increase.

The need to align and integrate REP with other training and ongoing monitoring efforts of key stakeholders in the community will increase.

Phase 2 Plans

REP has identified a critical niche in the Rochester community that was not being filled: providing in-depth, high-quality training followed by consistent coaching that is enduring enough to result in significant practice changes for funders and service providers. REP enables funders, providers and evaluation professionals to work together as partners in a unique manner. Based on REP’s pilot results and other relevant input, Phase 2 focuses on the following goals:

	Strengthening the work of a growing number of providers and funders in our region.
	Enabling original partners (both funders and service providers) to apply their training more extensively throughout their organizations and serve as mentors to others.
	Creating linkages and learning opportunities with others doing similar work.
	Strengthening the linkages of the area’s evaluation professionals with funders and providers.

Phase 2 activities (August 1998 - June 2000) will include the following. Associated costs are projected to total $180,000 (about the same as the two-year pilot).

	Involve CEO and staff of 12 new provider agencies, continue work with 4 alumni providers.
	Involve two or more new funding partners.
	Provide training on organizational assessment for any continuing partners who want it.
	Continue Effectiveness Study Group for funders; help them work collaboratively on streamlining the grant application process, conducting and reporting on site visits, and other joint projects.
	Develop and distribute a Guide to Upstate New York Evaluation Professionals.
	Link local evaluation professionals with REP.
	Conduct a training on evaluation as a leadership function for CEOs and board chairs throughout the Rochester community.
	Give presentations at national and regional conferences and explore related efforts outside the Rochester community.

Click here to request a copy of the full pilot period report.

Click here to see the executive summary of the 1999 "Year 3 Report."