This article originally ran in Stanford Social Innovation Review. Below is an excerpt.
A few years ago, I argued in this SSIR article that strategic capacity building and trust-based philanthropy are not opposing ideas. Funders do not have to choose between being responsive, relationship-centered partners and offering hands-on support that helps nonprofits strengthen as organizations.
But as capacity building has become a more common part of philanthropy, another question has become harder to avoid: How do we know whether it works?
Too often, funders answer this question with the easiest data to collect, which offers surface-level insight into whether grantees were satisfied with the support they received. Satisfaction is important. It can tell funders whether a consultant was responsive, whether an engagement felt relevant, and whether the process was a productive use of time, but it fails to tell us whether the work impacted organizational practice, improved performance, or helped an organization make progress toward the outcomes they seek.
