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

Working Strategically: A Common Challenge for Community and Private Foundations
Ellie Buteau, Ph.D. Director of Research Projects and Special Advisor on Research Methodology and Analysis, CEP

Sep 14, 2011 | Developing Strategy Developing Strategy

Community foundation leaders value the idea of strategy—but few use it in their donor or programmatic work.

The Effect of Response Bias: Who Completes our Surveys?
Ellie Buteau, Ph.D. Director of Research Projects and Special Advisor on Research Methodology and Analysis, CEP

Sep 12, 2011 | Assessing Performance Assessing Performance, Assessing Performance Assessment Tools

Ellie Buteau, Ph.D., discusses response bias—the decision of foundation leaders to participate or not—to CEP research, and what readers should keep in mind about this particular challenge.

What Foundations are Doing to Understand their Effectiveness
Ellie Buteau, Ph.D. Director of Research Projects and Special Advisor on Research Methodology and Analysis, CEP

Sep 7, 2011 | Assessing Performance Assessing Performance

Over the past decade foundations have worked to assess their performance in the fields and communities they seek to address. In particular, data-driven forms of measurement have become more widely used to judge the results of programs, along with a broader range of information now used to assess performance.

Findings drawn from a survey of the CEOs of 173 U.S. foundations with annual grantmaking of at least $5 million focus on the current status of performance assessment among larger foundations.

New Analysis Shows Foundations’ Grantee Perception Report Results Improving
Ellie Buteau, Ph.D. Director of Research Projects and Special Advisor on Research Methodology and Analysis, CEP

May 18, 2011 | Funder/Grantee Relationships Funder/Grantee Relationships

Ellie Buteau shares the press release for “Can Feedback Fuel Change at Foundations?,” which shows that foundations that use the Grantee Perception Report (GPR) more than once are making changes that are benefiting the organizations they fund. In addition to describing the data analysis and profiling foundations that have made improvements, the report identifies four keys to driving change as a result of the GPR.

CEP Conference To Unveil New Research on Community Foundation Strategy
Ellie Buteau, Ph.D. Director of Research Projects and Special Advisor on Research Methodology and Analysis, CEP

Jan 28, 2011 | Developing Strategy Constituent Feedback, Developing Strategy Developing Strategy, Developing Strategy Programming and Communications

Ellie Buteau shares the many ways that CEP’s 2011 conference will be featuring community foundations, including new CEP research on community foundation strategy.

Grantees Tell Foundations How to Make Reporting and Evaluation More Helpful
Ellie Buteau, Ph.D. Director of Research Projects and Special Advisor on Research Methodology and Analysis, CEP

Jan 13, 2011 | Funder/Grantee Relationships Funder/Grantee Relationships

Ellie Buteau introduces a new research piece that provides a detailed look at grantees’ experience of the reporting and evaluation processes, what makes them most helpful, and how foundations could improve them.

Back to Basics: What Are You Trying to Achieve?
Ellie Buteau, Ph.D. Director of Research Projects and Special Advisor on Research Methodology and Analysis, CEP

Dec 20, 2010 | Assessing Performance Assessing Performance, Assessing Performance Developing Strategy

Ellie Buteau, PhD posits that before a foundation can contribute assessment data to Glasspockets, it must clarify goals, strategies, and indicators of success.

How Understanding Their Fields Helped Three Foundations Make Better Decisions and Avoid Costly Mistakes
Ellie Buteau, Ph.D. Director of Research Projects and Special Advisor on Research Methodology and Analysis, CEP

Dec 16, 2010 | Funder/Grantee Relationships Funder/Grantee Relationships

Our case study, Lessons from the Field: From Understanding to Impact, provides an in-depth look at how three different foundations cultivate an understanding of their fields and then translate that understanding into more effective grantmaking.