In recent years, we have completely changed our approach by building evaluation processes into our organizational structure. We have tried to be deliberate about integrating evaluation into all aspects of our culture in a way that is meaningful and aligned with our program strategy. The result has been the development of a strategic evaluation system that utilizes multiple evaluation approaches and methods rather than simply embracing a single, one-size-fits-all approach to evaluation. After all, our grantees are so different - from supporting 1400 rural Methodist churches to the development of highly researched national models of childcare.

Communicating with our grantees about the purpose and value that evaluation brings to our combined efforts is also important. At the start of an engagement we need to be clear about what metrics we will be tracking and what we hope to gain from the evaluation so we'll know if progress is being made. We try to look at the purpose of each evaluation and identify what we hope to learn from it. We also invite our grantees working on similar projects to come together and share their progress and learnings with each other.

Our trustees care about accountability and they use evaluation results to guide the foundation. It really doesn't matter if the outcomes are positive or negative; what is important is that we share with them the learnings and knowledge evolving from our work. That means we need to monitor our grants throughout their lifecycles, rather than only at the end of the grant period, so that we can report information back to our trustees on an annual basis. In turn, the trustees feel more engaged in our work and invested in monitoring the progress along with us.

We've also had to change our approach to communication in order to share our evaluation findings more effectively. We've made changes to all of our communications, including our website and graphics, to establish a much closer tie between communications and evaluation. Our goal is to have evaluation fully integrated into our culture so that it is a part of everything we do - from the beginning of our work with a grantee, all the way through an understanding of the outcomes. We need to communicate effectively if evaluation is to become a catalyst for learning at the Endowment and among our grantees."