Ellie Buteau, PhD, Author at The Center for Effective Philanthropy

Data Point: Board Materials
Ellie Buteau, Ph.D. Director of Research Projects and Special Advisor on Research Methodology and Analysis, CEP

Dec 2, 2011 | Data Point Data Point, Data Point Optimizing Governance

Ellie Buteau offers foundation staff a helpful data point as they prepare materials for their board of directors.

Data Point: Why Aren’t Foundation Boards More Involved in Assessing Performance?
Ellie Buteau, Ph.D. Director of Research Projects and Special Advisor on Research Methodology and Analysis, CEP

Nov 23, 2011 | Assessing Performance Assessing Performance, Assessing Performance Data Point, Assessing Performance Optimizing Governance

One of the key findings from our recent performance assessment study, titled The State of Foundation Performance Assessment: A Survey of Foundation CEOs, is that 70 percent of CEOs want their board members to be more involved in assessment. This finding is consistent...

Data Point: How Do Program Staff Decide What Assistance to Provide Beyond the Grant?
Ellie Buteau, Ph.D. Director of Research Projects and Special Advisor on Research Methodology and Analysis, CEP

Nov 18, 2011 | Funder/Grantee Relationships Data Point, Funder/Grantee Relationships Funder/Grantee Relationships

CEOs and program staff believe that providing assistance beyond the grant is important both for the achievement of their goals and those of their grantees. Yet few know whether the assistance they provide to those grantees is proving helpful. In that...

Data Point: Strategy Implementation Challenges
Ellie Buteau, Ph.D. Director of Research Projects and Special Advisor on Research Methodology and Analysis, CEP

Nov 11, 2011 | Data Point Data Point, Data Point Managing Operations

Much of the talk about strategy in philanthropy focuses on its development. Less frequently discussed is implementation. But, as former Robert Wood Johnson Foundation President Steven A. Schroeder contends, good strategy is useless if it isn’t implemented well. ...

Data Point: Getting Input When Developing Strategies
Ellie Buteau, Ph.D. Director of Research Projects and Special Advisor on Research Methodology and Analysis, CEP

Nov 4, 2011 | Developing Strategy Constituent Feedback, Developing Strategy Data Point, Developing Strategy Developing Strategy

Being “strategic” in philanthropy is sometimes equated with being isolated, arrogant, or top-down, with foundation leaders asserting detailed theories of change to rigidly guide grantmaking. But CEP’s research suggests that the opposite is the case. Those who are...

Data Point: How Foundation CEOs Use Information About the Effectiveness of their Programmatic Work
Ellie Buteau, Ph.D. Director of Research Projects and Special Advisor on Research Methodology and Analysis, CEP

Oct 28, 2011 | Assessing Performance Assessing Performance, Assessing Performance Data Point, Assessing Performance Managing Operations

Ellie Buteau, PhD., presents a Data Point about the use of information drawn from programmatic experience and insight by foundation CEOs.

Data Point: Learning From Failure
Ellie Buteau, Ph.D. Director of Research Projects and Special Advisor on Research Methodology and Analysis, CEP

Oct 21, 2011 | Assessing Performance Assessing Performance, Assessing Performance Data Point, Assessing Performance Programming and Communications

Ellie Buteau presents a second data point drawn from a survey of foundation CEOs on the status of performance assessment.

A Foundation Asks its Constituents About How Best to Spend $100 Million
Ellie Buteau, Ph.D. Director of Research Projects and Special Advisor on Research Methodology and Analysis, CEP

Oct 17, 2011 | Developing Strategy Constituent Feedback, Developing Strategy Developing Strategy

I was struck by a September 29th blog post written by Chris Langston, program director at the John A. Hartford Foundation in New York City. In his post, Chris asks for suggestions from “grantees, stakeholders, peers, and older persons themselves” about how the...

Data Point: Developing Shared Measurement Systems
Ellie Buteau, Ph.D. Director of Research Projects and Special Advisor on Research Methodology and Analysis, CEP

Oct 14, 2011 | Developing Strategy Assessing Performance, Developing Strategy Data Point, Developing Strategy Developing Strategy

The use and management of data stands at the core of the work undertaken by the Center for Effective Philanthropy. The set of survey tools CEP has developed as well as field-wide research builds comparative data drawn from key constituent groups—grantees, donors,...