Comments on: Research Questions I Wish Someone Would Answer http://hildygottlieb.com/2009/07/19/research-questions-i-wish-someone-would-answer/ Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:17:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Rachael Barrett http://hildygottlieb.com/2009/07/19/research-questions-i-wish-someone-would-answer/comment-page-1/#comment-30895 Rachael Barrett Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:04:19 +0000 http://hildygottlieb.com/?p=989#comment-30895 On capacity building, see: Building Capacity While Assessing It Three Foundations’ Experiences Using the McKinsey Capacity Assessment Grid, March 2005, By:Kendall Guthrie and Alan Preston, Blueprint Research & Design, Inc. The Capacity Building Challenge, by Paul C. Light and Elizabeth T. Hubbard, April 2002 and A View from the Field: Helping Community Organizations Meet Capacity Challenges, by Lucy N. Friedman, The After-School Corporation March 2008 The first document comes closest to answering your research question 1...and Light's article does a great job of laying out the problems. Venture Philanthropy Partners, Inc. enlisted McKinsey to design their capacity building matrix in 2001, VPP might be a source to tap to gauge impact of capacity building. On capacity building, see:

Building Capacity While Assessing It Three Foundations’ Experiences Using the McKinsey Capacity Assessment Grid, March 2005, By:Kendall Guthrie and Alan Preston, Blueprint Research & Design, Inc.

The Capacity Building Challenge, by Paul C. Light and Elizabeth T. Hubbard, April 2002

and

A View from the Field: Helping Community Organizations Meet
Capacity Challenges, by Lucy N. Friedman, The After-School Corporation
March 2008

The first document comes closest to answering your research question 1…and Light’s article does a great job of laying out the problems. Venture Philanthropy Partners, Inc. enlisted McKinsey to design their capacity building matrix in 2001, VPP might be a source to tap to gauge impact of capacity building.

]]> By: Hildy http://hildygottlieb.com/2009/07/19/research-questions-i-wish-someone-would-answer/comment-page-1/#comment-30894 Hildy Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:39:16 +0000 http://hildygottlieb.com/?p=989#comment-30894 I received this note from a reader who asked that I post it for her. HG "Don’t know if it would be relevant in the States but some of those questions have been answered in the UK in research commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation http://www.jrf.org.uk/ , NCVO http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/ and the Big Lottery." Margaret Underwood Third Sector Development & Training I received this note from a reader who asked that I post it for her.
HG

“Don’t know if it would be relevant in the States but some of those questions have been answered in the UK in research commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation http://www.jrf.org.uk/ , NCVO http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/ and the Big Lottery.”
Margaret Underwood
Third Sector Development & Training

]]> By: Luise http://hildygottlieb.com/2009/07/19/research-questions-i-wish-someone-would-answer/comment-page-1/#comment-30893 Luise Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:35:21 +0000 http://hildygottlieb.com/?p=989#comment-30893 Hi Hildy! Thank you for putting these questions out there (and on Twitter) and for inviting responses. Nothing more frustrating than having a hunch that the answer MIGHT be out there, somewhere! When I saw your Mergers question, I thought about a report we have in IssueLab that might answer (or get closer to) some of the answers you're seeking. It's called "Nonprofit Mergers: An Assessment of Nonprofits' Experiences with the Merger Process" and was submitted by the Forbes Funds (2007). Access: http://www.issuelab.org/research/nonprofit_mergers_an_assessment_of_nonprofits_experiences_with_the_merger_process If you've got a minute, you might discover more answers by browsing through our "Nonprofits & Philanthropy" issue area (http://www.issuelab.org/browse/issue_areas/nonprofits_and_philanthropy). Or just do an advanced search. Happy finding! Luise at IssueLab Hi Hildy!

Thank you for putting these questions out there (and on Twitter) and for inviting responses. Nothing more frustrating than having a hunch that the answer MIGHT be out there, somewhere!

When I saw your Mergers question, I thought about a report we have in IssueLab that might answer (or get closer to) some of the answers you’re seeking. It’s called “Nonprofit Mergers: An Assessment of Nonprofits’ Experiences with the Merger Process” and was submitted by the Forbes Funds (2007). Access: http://www.issuelab.org/research/nonprofit_mergers_an_assessment_of_nonprofits_experiences_with_the_merger_process

If you’ve got a minute, you might discover more answers by browsing through our “Nonprofits & Philanthropy” issue area (http://www.issuelab.org/browse/issue_areas/nonprofits_and_philanthropy). Or just do an advanced search. Happy finding!

Luise
at IssueLab

]]> By: Jane Garthson http://hildygottlieb.com/2009/07/19/research-questions-i-wish-someone-would-answer/comment-page-1/#comment-30892 Jane Garthson Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:55:14 +0000 http://hildygottlieb.com/?p=989#comment-30892 Hildy, you keep, rightly, asking about community impact but most assessments look at internal efficiencies or changes not outcomes. I do watch your attempts to get useful info from ARNOVA, and I hope you'll keep trying; there have to be some readers who are rethinking some of their research plans when they realize they can't answer the questions that matter most. It might be two years before your questions can be answered, but that's better than never. The main proponent of nonprofit mergers in my community defines success solely from the bottom line. She also tells organizations to drop the program most important to their community, even if no one else provides it, if it is a drain on resources. TA DA- success! Yeah, right. And I've watched major organizations in Canada lie about why they are merging so any outcomes they might choose to assess would be a sham. Hildy, you keep, rightly, asking about community impact but most assessments look at internal efficiencies or changes not outcomes. I do watch your attempts to get useful info from ARNOVA, and I hope you’ll keep trying; there have to be some readers who are rethinking some of their research plans when they realize they can’t answer the questions that matter most. It might be two years before your questions can be answered, but that’s better than never.

The main proponent of nonprofit mergers in my community defines success solely from the bottom line. She also tells organizations to drop the program most important to their community, even if no one else provides it, if it is a drain on resources. TA DA- success! Yeah, right. And I’ve watched major organizations in Canada lie about why they are merging so any outcomes they might choose to assess would be a sham.

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