Foundations must make important choices about what to support, and how to extend that support.  All foundations want to understand the impact of these choices – to determine if the decisions were well-made and what the results of the intervention were.
FoodShare Toronto

The Metcalf Foundation tries to provide opportunity for experimentation, organizational change, and learning.  We seek innovative solutions to difficult problems.  As a result, we don’t always know what to expect over the course of a grant.  The work we support occurs in complex systems.  These systems are dynamic, and the Foundation is often only one of many variables in the mix.  Consequently, identifying and attributing impact can be difficult given the variety of factors and inputs which contribute to the outcome.

Nonetheless, a commitment to learning through evaluation is useful, because it ensures that we are thoughtful about what we do, fully conscious of our choices and actions, and prepared to make adjustments based on the results.  Whether a funder is designing a granting program, or an organization is developing a proposal, a commitment to learning through evaluation requires that we:

• describe our goals and aspirations;
• articulate the assumptions with which we begin;
• summarize the activities we undertake;
• assess our ability to execute these activities;
• measure the quantitative differences that result;
• observe changes in thinking, attitude, or behaviour;
• reflect on what has been learned; and
• use this knowledge to inform our actions going forward.

Evaluation does not only occur at the end of something.  For us, it is learning through a continuous feedback loop – an essential and ongoing part of the grantmaking process.  It starts at the beginning, with our program guidelines and our initial conversations with prospective applicants.  It continues in our grant review process and in our communication with successful applicants.  It is a key part of our monitoring and reporting activity, and culminates in final reports and staff review.  This process feeds into our ongoing and active assessment of program design and effectiveness.

Our approach to evaluation is in keeping with the Foundation’s values and philosophy of funding – supportive but not directive, collaborative, accessible, practical, and not overly bureaucratic.  As such, we think our learning through evaluation is enhanced if we are the following.

• Inquisitive
  Good questions stimulate discussion.  Ongoing dialogue between the Foundation and funded organizations is the cornerstone of our evaluation process.  It helps both parties come to a better understanding of the initiatives underway, what happens as they proceed, and their ultimate effect.  Open and continuous communication within the Foundation, and between the Foundation and others in the community, is important to our learning.

• Rigorous
  There needs to be as much clarity as possible in the expression of goals and intended impact.  There needs to be clear and deliberate thinking applied to strategies and implementation.  There needs to be a commitment to creative and open assessment, and to sharing reflection about the work and its effects – intended or otherwise.  We strive for this ourselves, and we also expect it of grantees.

• Encouraging
  We work together with grantees to explore and to develop approaches to project evaluation that work for each individual organization, since we want to encourage good project evaluations by the organizations we fund.

• Flexible
  Project evaluation should be appropriate to the scale of the project and the organization, so evaluation should proceed differently in different organizations, and with different projects.  Evaluation should never be a detrimental burden of time and expense for any organization.