Measuring our progress in achieving our goals and fulfilling our missions is more important than ever. In a world of economic volatility, government constraint and increasing transparency, funders and their grantees need more effective ways to demonstrate their individual and collective impact to a broadening array of interested stakeholders. Blair Dimock shared the steps they have taken at the Ontario Trillium Foundation has taken to re-invent how they measure the impact of their granting, what they measure, and why. Through a focus on balancing accountability with an action learning agenda, using mixed measurement methods, increasing engagement with grantees, staff and volunteers, and experimentation, you, too can improve how you map your progress towards achieving your organization’s mission. Find out more about Five Good Ideas: http://maytree.com/training/fivegoodideas Watch a video of Blair's presentation - http://maytree.com/fgi/mapping-progress-with-a-purpose.html

1. MEASURING PROGRESS, WITH A
PURPOSE
Maytree’s Five Good Ideas Series
April 18, 2012
Blair Dimock
Director, Research, Evaluation and Knowledge
Management
Ontario Trillium Foundation
bdimock@otf.ca

2. MEASURING PROGRESS, WITH A PURPOSE
1. Map to the Why: measuring progress is mission critical.
2. From accountability to action learning: thinking “if…,
then…”.
3. Ask the right questions.
4. Make what you measure work for you.
5. In our world of networks, engage.

3. 1. MAP TO THE WHY: MEASURING PROGRESS IS
MISSION CRITICAL

4. FUTURE FUND: THEORY OF CHANGE
If we make significant, long-term investments in a
portfolio of innovative initiatives, and support them
through high engagement relationships and networking,
we will be a catalyst for transformational change.

5. 2. FROM ACCOUNTABILITY TO ACTION LEARNING:
THINKING “IF…, THEN…”.

6. Framing Question #1
How can we learn DURING our grantmaking work?
“When someone
Medium Cycle
says, ‘we should
learn,’ everyone
nods. The problem
is that it’s not
specific. The
intention to learn,
by itself, is not
that helpful.”

7. Emergent Learning Map: Framing Question: How can we…?
What will it take to…?
What we’ve What we think
learned from what will make us
has already successful in the
happened future
Insights Hypotheses
Ground Truth Opportunities
Key moments Upcoming
looking back from opportunities to test
which we can our hypotheses in
learn action

8. OTF Example: What will it take to build the capacity of the environment sector, in
order to increase its impact?
OTF can play a valued role by
strengthening the links between Capacity building If we introduce a
If we invest in innovative
grass-roots and large requires a long- “high engagement”
collaborations, the capacity of
environmental non-government term commitment. approach to
the sector will be enhanced,
organizations. and its impact will increase. evaluation and
monitoring, we will
learn more
Granting in high effectively and
Granting widely and for short- volume leaves little If we take a portfolio approach to increase our
term projects may lessen our time or resources for grantmaking decisions, the impact likelihood of
impact and not lead to lasting effective learning. of the initiative will be greater. success.
results.
Insights Hypotheses
The environment sector in Ground Truth Opportunities
Ontario is smaller, less
developed and has lower Future Fund Round 1
The sector is made up of
capacity than the other
a few large, high
sectors we fund.
capacity organizations
Design of evaluation High engagement
and many small staff team
organizations who lack plan
As the largest funder of
capacity in key areas.
environmental
organizations in Ontario,
Learning circles (grantees
OTF has an opportunity to
and staff team)
be a leader in helping the
sector achieve greater Future Fund
impact. Round 2

9. Action Review Cycle (ARC)

10. ACTION REVIEW CYCLE
Facilitator:
Action
Review
Cycle
Task:
Team:
Date: Before Action Review
What is our intent (purpose and desired result)?
How will we measure success?
What challenges can we anticipate?
What did we/others learn in similar situations?
What will make the biggest difference this time?
Action
Date: After Action Review
What were our results? (Intended vs. Actual)
What caused these results?
What will we sustain? What will we improve?
Next opportunities: (When are the next opportunities to use and refine what we learned?)
Notes: (Who we should copy this to; other action items; new burning questions; etc.)

11. Framing Question
How can we tackle the sheer volume of what
there is to learn?
“If you try to learn everything, you’re going to drown. We want to learn
from every grant; every program; every event. It’s too much. The biggest
challenge is to figure out what the most strategic things to be learned are
and letting go of the rest of it.”
-- Mary Williams, Lumina Foundation for Education

12. Creating a Learning Agenda
Framing Question
Hypothesis Hypothesis Hypothesis
Action Learning Plan

13. BUILDING THE CAPACITY OF THE ENVIRONMENT SECTOR
If we… Then we will…
connect advocates about early influence practice and policies for
environmental exposure to toxins with chronic disease prevention.
public health practitioners
engage a broad range of environmental Strengthen the policy effectiveness of
organizations in the setting of shared the sector.
environmental priorities for Ontario
link regional efforts in the northern and build the capacity of communities to
southern parts of Ontario through a respond to common climate-change
North-South Climate Change Network challenges.
build a provincial alliance to address support a new generation of viable,
issues of farmland access and ecological, local farmers.
succession
foster partnerships between Community assure the protection of up to 50% of
Foundations and Land Trusts to raise currently owned conservation lands.
stewardship funds
inspire environmental non-profits to transform the sector in terms of its
embrace diversity in their audiences ethno-cultural and racial diversity.
and within their organizations

14. 3. ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS.

15. CHARTING IMPACT: THE 5 QUESTIONS
1. What is your organization aiming to accomplish?
2. What are your strategies for making this happen?
3. What are your organization’s capabilities for doing this?
4. How will your organization know if you are making
progress?
5. What have and haven’t you accomplished so far?

16. 4. MAKE WHAT YOU MEASURE WORK FOR YOU.

17. THE EVALUATION HIERARCHY

18. Numerous Sources
+ Multiple Methods
+ Different Points of View
= High Degree of Confidence

19. 5. IN OUR WORLD OF NETWORKS, ENGAGE.

20. FROM ACTIVITIES TO DELIBERATE LEARNING
“This all takes a level of discipline that’s hard to maintain. We can come
up with the greatest dashboards, logic models, learning agendas. It takes
discipline to look at them and say, ‘What is our outcome?’”
-- Jane Donahue, Deaconess Foundation

21. RESOURCES
1. Jim Collins, “Good to Great for the Sectors”, http://www.jimcollins.com/books/g2g-
ss.html; Grantcraft, “Mapping Change”,
http://www.grantcraft.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.ViewPage&pageId=1542.
2. 4th Quadrant Partners, “Where Learning turns into Results”,
http://www.4qpartners.com/Tools.html; International Development Research
Centre, “Tools and Training”,
http://www.idrc.ca/EN/Resources/Tools_and_Training/Pages/default.aspx.
3. Charting Impact, “The 5 Questions”, http://www.chartingimpact.org/complete-
your-report/five-questions/; Social Asset Measurements “Non-Profit and Charitable
Solutions”, http://www.socialassets.org/.
4. Grantcraft, “Making Measures work for You”,
http://www.grantcraft.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.ViewPage&pageId=1543;
Center for Effective Philanthropy, “Foundation Performance Assessment
Framework”, http://www.effectivephilanthropy.org/index.php?page=foundation-
performance-assessment-framework
5. Tamarack Institute for Community Engagement: “Resource Library”,
http://tamarackcommunity.ca/g3s4.html; Innovation Network: “Point K Learning
Center”, http://www.innonet.org/index.php?section_id=4&content_id=16;
Grantmakers for Effective Organizations: “Do Nothing About me Without Me”,
http://www.geofunders.org/publications