In the past decade, foundations have become more deeply engaged in assessing their performance. But performance assessment is only a means to an end. The real question is – do foundations feel like they now have a better understanding of their impact?
To find this out, in a survey we conducted last year we asked CEOs of the largest foundations in the country to rate the extent to which they agreed that compared to a decade ago:
- Their foundation has made progress in being able to understand its impact.
- Foundations overall have made progress in being able to understand their impact.
The figures contain the findings.
CEOs are more confident about their foundations’ progress in understanding impact than they are about progress among foundations in general.
This raises even more questions – are foundations failing to communicate with their peers about the great strides they are making in understanding their impact? Or are foundations simply overestimating the degree of progress they have made in understanding their impact?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
To read more from CEP’s latest research on foundation CEOs’ perceptions of how much progress foundations have made, see the report “How Far Have We Come? Foundation CEOs on Progress and Impact.”
Ramya Gopal is a Senior Research Analyst at the Center for Effective Philanthropy. You can find her on Twitter @RGopal_CEP.
