Digest: Studies, Books, Web Sites, and Other Publications

2005, 24 pages. Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, 1413 K Street, NW, 2nd floor, Washington, DC, 20005

Download pdf: Grantmakers for Effective Organizations

This report examines current topics in philanthropic evaluation and showcases innovative approaches to evaluation being used by grantmakers, both large and small. Through three essays and concise, informative case studies, evaluation is shown to be an opportunity to learn about one's grantmaking and to increase its effectiveness.

2005, 139 pages. Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, Fieldstone Alliance Publishing Center, Saint Paul, MN, 55107

In this guide, York promotes the concept of "evaluative learning" to help funders use evaluation to build capacity and increased effectiveness in their grantees' organizations. Examinations of capacity building, organizational effectiveness, current and typical uses of evaluations, and the philosophy of evaluations lead to a step-by-step, soup-to-nuts guide to planning for and implementing evaluative learning.

April 2005, 6 pages. Wallace Foundation, Two Park Avenue, 23rd Floor, New York, NY, 10016, 212-251-9700

PDF available for download at the Wallace Foundation website.

Wallace President M. Christine DeVita discusses the Foundation's experiences and early lessons in measuring its own effectiveness, as presented at the 2005 Council on Foundations annual conference. This straightforward approach and simple set of questions provides a useful resource for the small or family foundation wanting to address the question, "How are we doing?"

May 2005, The Urban Institute, 2100 M Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20037, (202) 833-7200, www.urban.org

"The idea that expressive activities contribute to building and preserving communities has become an increasingly important part of economic development and community revitalization discourse in cities, towns and nations around the world."
Carole Rosenstein, Ph.D.

2004, 171 pages. Association of Performing Arts Presenters, Washington, DC, 20063

2005, 217 pages. Berrett Koehler Publishers, 235 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA 94104-2916, 415-288-0260, Berrett-Koehler

2005, 43 pages. Foundation Strategy Group , LLC, 20 Park Plaza, Suite 320, Boston, MA, 02116, 617-357-4000.

2005, 320 pages. Theatre Communications Group, New York, NY, 10018, Theatre Communications Group

2003, 201 pages. Pearson Education Inc./Financial Times Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458, Pearson Education Inc.

2005, 32 pages. The Boston Foundation, Boston, MA, 02116

This study reports on the impact and roles of arts service organizations (ASOs) in the Boston area and nationwide. Considered "the unacknowledged gems of the cultural ecosystem," ASO services help other nonprofits to achieve certain economies of scale and to function as if they were larger operations. At the same time, many ASOs themselves do not have the budgets or staff capacities to make a real impact. The study outlines a strategy for supporting this segment of the cultural sector.