DOI
10.9707/1944-5660.1352
Key Points
This article shares the emerging hypotheses of two foundations, The Atlantic Philanthropies and the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation — each four years from sunset — about the opportunities and challenges for evaluation in the limited-life context.
Few, if any, of the problems philanthropy seeks to address can be solved within a brief, defined time frame. Limited-life foundations can only strive to move the ball down the field before they sunset, and then enlist others to carry the work forward. Given this reality, these foundations are obligated to make a deliberate effort to share what they have learned with the players who remain.
The article argues that systematically capturing and sharing knowledge — about programs, as well as social-change methods and grantmaking practices — can increase a foundation’s influence and impact during its final years and beyond.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Halverstadt, A., & Kerman, B. (2017). End-Game Evaluation: Building a Legacy of Learning In a Limited-Life Foundation. The Foundation Review, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.9707/1944-5660.1352
Included in
Nonprofit Administration and Management Commons, Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons
