The Nonprofit FAQ

'A History of Foundations and Evaluation Research'

'Why, then, would foundations want or need to subject themselves and their grantees to evaluation? -- a procedure that even its proponents concede is expensive and time-consuming, and onerous and that its critics argue yields results of questionable value. This essay will offer an answer to that question by exploring the history of grant making foundations and their use of evaluation over the past half-century. It will suggest, first, that the willingness of foundations to use evaluation techniques stems from the political milieu of the decades following the second World War -- an era in which an increasingly tax sensitive public was given to episodic outbursts of concern about loopholes available to wealthy individuals and institutions. Secondly, it will explore the peculiarities of foundations as complex organizations, pointing to function of evaluation in settings in which decisions are made under conditions of ambiguity. Thirdly, it will look to the development of evaluation techniques and the academic professionals and consulting firms that championed their use.' From 'A solution is a product in search of a problem': A History of Foundations and Evaluation Research By Peter Dobkin Hall, Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. March 2003. See http://ksghome.harvard.edu/~.phall.hauser.ksg/EVALUATION%20ESSAY.pdf Posted 9/14/03 -- PB