Marguerite Casey Foundation: Reflecting on 15 Years of Philanthropic Leadership Through a Summative Evaluation

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a summative evaluation of the Marguerite Casey Foundation that was conducted on the occasion of its 15th anniversary. The evaluation was designed to gauge stakeholders’ perceptions of the foundation’s operations to facilitate organizational learning. In sharing these results, the authors seek to elucidate the role of evaluation as a learning practice within the field of philanthropy.

The article describes the foundation’s organizational elements and evolution and discusses key themes that emerged from qualitative data collected from foundation leaders and staff, as well as findings from a survey of current grantees.

The article presents a synthesis of the evaluation’s findings and recommendations for the foundation’s continued and future work, describes its initial responses to these recommendations, and concludes with thoughts regarding the foundation’s continued progress toward establishing movement building as a philanthropic strategy for the 21st century.