Project Descriptions - Innovation Network

Project Descriptions
Innovation Network offers training services help to build evaluation capacity. Our
services build evaluation knowledge and skills for program officers and nonprofit
staff, through online or in-person workshops and one-on-one consulting.
Examples of our work include:
‣ Providing technical assistance supported by funders for a set of
grantee organizations:
The KIDS COUNT Network: As part of an Annie E. Casey Foundation
national initiative, Innovation Network helped KIDS COUNT members
develop customized self-assessment and outcomes measurement tools to better
evaluate the impact of their work.
The Learning Circles Project: A Fannie Mae Foundation project launched in
1999, the Learning Circles Project aimed to improve the organizational
effectiveness – and prospects for sustainability – of a variety of nonprofits in
the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area. With additional funding from the
Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, Innovation Network has guided 67
Learning Circles participant groups through an array of institution-building
activities.
Echoing Green Foundation: Echoing Green offers two-year fellowships to
support social entrepreneurs in launching new organizations. Innovation
Network helped Echoing Green’s Fellows to develop and use program logic
models as key evaluation and strategic planning tools.
Endowment for Health: This New Hampshire-based health foundation is
working with Innovation Network to develop an organizational effectiveness
framework linking strategic planning and assessment of the foundation’s
programs, management, and governance.
Baltimore Neighborhood Collaborative (BNC): The BNC is a broad-based
funders’ collaborative that provides multi-year support for a variety of
community-building efforts. Over a two-year period, Innovation Network
assisted six BNC grantee organizations in the development of program and
evaluation plans that were an integral part of each group’s community
revitalization project.
INNOVATION NETWORK, INC.
1625 K Street, NW, 11 th Floor • Washington, DC 20006
Telephone: 202-728-0727 • Facsimile: 202-728-0136
www.innonet.org • knowmore@innonet.org

Project Descriptions
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‣ Partnering with funders to build their internal evaluation capacity:
Women’s Funding Network: We worked with this funders’ collaborative to
craft an assessment to accurately capture the impact of grants made to
support low-income and marginalized women and girls adversely affected by
the tragic events of 9/11.
The Fannie Mae Foundation: Innovation Network is conducting a series of
trainings for the Foundation’s program officers to sharpen their
understanding of how evaluation can be used to track progress, improve
accountability, and inform decision making.
‣ Working directly with nonprofits:
Charity Lobbying in the Public Interest (CLPI): We relied on our
participatory approach to design and conduct an evaluation for this national
advocacy group during an important period of organizational transition.
Innovation Network worked with CLPI staff in a year-long process that
produced a qualitative evaluation of the effectiveness of the organization’s
programs, including recommendations for future strategic directions.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation: In order to determine the
efficacy of two statewide Preservation initiatives, Innovation Network
collaborated with a variety of stakeholders over three years to integrate data
collection, evaluation, and reporting strategies into the Trust’s ongoing
planning activities.
Beacon House: Innovation Network helped this community-based
organization develop a logic model and evaluation plan to measure how
much of a positive impact its after-school programs had on young
participants’ academic performance.
For more information about Innovation Network’s services, please contact us:
INNOVATION NETWORK, INC.
Telephone: 202-728-0727 • Facsimile: 202-728-0136
www.innonet.org • knowmore@innonet.org