Funding and Intermediary Partners

Funders and intermediaries partner with Success Measures to provide support for an array of evaluation activities that are both implemented internally and offered to their grantees.  

These services include:

• Design of evaluation frameworks for specific grantmaking programs
• Implementation of participatory evaluation and learning processes for single and multi-site funding initiatives at local, regional and national levels
• Data collection, analysis and reporting of both qualitative and quantitative results 
• Delivery of a range of training and technical assistance services for funded organizations, members or affiliates, as well as for foundation and intermediary staff 
• Development of new indicators related to issues of interest to a funder or the field

For example, foundations, intermediaries and public agencies:

• Offer Success Measures training and technical assistance to grantees to build their capacity to undertake participatory evaluation in-house
• Support grantees to use a common evaluation design, including common survey and observation tools to assess place-based revitalization activities, allowing the funder to understand trends across its grantee footprint
• Use Success Measures services to create an overall evaluation plan to assess the impact of a particular funding program or special initiative.

A sample of funder and intermediary clients includes:

Citi FoundatioN

With lead funding from Citi Foundation, Success Measures conducted a collaborative process that engaged over 80 practitioners, funders and researchers in developing, field-testing and piloting a new set of financial capability evaluation tools. These tools measure changes in the financial status, behavior, attitudes and resilience of participants in a range of financial education, financial coaching, asset development, housing and foreclosure counseling programs. Through a major new partnership between Citi Foundation and NeighborWorks America to expand financial coaching programs for low and moderate income Americans, over 400 nonprofit practitioners are having the opportunity to build their capacity to conduct financial capability programs. A subgroup of 31 organizations is receiving grants and technical assistance resources to develop and strengthen financial coaching programs, as well as to evaluate those, using Success Measures services, tools and technology.  

Federation of Appalachian Housing Enterprises (FAHE)

This regional intermediary organization provides access to capital, technical assistance and leadership development to expand affordable housing, community development and economic opportunity in Appalachian counties in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Success Measures is assisting FAHE to create a comprehensive, multi-year outcome evaluation plan that integrates existing data collection and analysis efforts. FAHE has used Success Measures to evaluate the impact of its services on select communities through examining housing quality, property values, and the economic impact of construction and rehab activities.  

Ford Foundation

Success Measures designed and is implementing a participatory evaluation process for the Ford Foundation’s Metropolitan Opportunity Unit’s five-year, multi-site initiative to connect residents to jobs and opportunities in the broader metropolitan economy. As the Foundation’s evaluation intermediary for local and national grantees funded under the initiative, Success Measures is providing evaluation technical assistance, training, peer learning conferences, and coordination of data analysis and reporting, to support the Foundation’s national learning process in up to ten metropolitan areas. The Ford Foundation was also a key supporter of the initial development of the Success Measures Data System and provided startup capital for the Success Measures social enterprise at NeighborWorks America.  

Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI)

Success Measures designed a comprehensive outcome evaluation framework for Habitat for Humanity’s national Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative and is providing training and technical assistance to over 100 local Habitat for Humanity affiliates across the country. In a train-the-trainer model, Success Measures is also training and certifying up to 10 Habitat for Humanity staff to support the participatory outcome evaluation over time. 

F.B. Heron Foundation

Through a Success Measures incentive program for its grantees, this national foundation supported over 30 nonprofits to conduct evaluation of asset-building affordable housing and community development programs. Success Measures also developed a streamlined performance measurement process for the Foundation’s grant programs. In addition, the F.B. Heron Foundation supported the development of the initial Success Measures methods, tools, and technology as well as Spanish translation of the core Success Measures evaluation tools. The foundation also was a collaborative funder of new tools to measure financial capability programs as well as the training, technical assistance, financing and field-building services of intermediary organizations. 

NeighborWorks® America

Over 100 of the local and regional member organizations of this national affordable housing and community development intermediary have received training and technical assistance to conduct outcome evaluations using Success Measures participatory approach and the Success Measures Data System (SMDS). These organizations use Success Measures to evaluate the changes their programs have on the people and communities that benefit from their affordable housing programs. NeighborWorks also engaged Success Measures to develop new evaluation tools that measure efforts to stabilize communities hit hard by the foreclosure crisis, and to support local organizations in 19 communities to conduct a multi-year evaluation of their stabilization programs using a common evaluation design.  

Wells Fargo Regional Foundation

Success Measures provides ongoing evaluation consulting, including data analysis, to the Foundation and more than 45 of its Neighborhood Planning and Implementation Program grantees in New Jersey, Delaware and eastern Pennsylvania. This work includes assisting grantee organizations in planning evaluations of their neighborhood revitalization programs and using a common Success Measures survey to measure resident perception of neighborhood quality of life and other indicators of change. New grantees are also using a common tool to document changes in the physical conditions of target communities.