You know that you need an external evaluator. Maybe your organization doesn’t have the internal expertise or time to conduct a program evaluation yourself, or a grant funder requires a third-party evaluation. Many programs—and organizations—feel that they can’t afford an external evaluation, and funders don’t always pay for program evaluations. However, if you can convince donors and funders that your program is effective and efficient, you’ll be more competitive for future funding. A strong evaluation provides valuable information for data-based decision-making to inform program refinements and continuous improvement. Funders have a limited amount of dollars to award and, therefore, want to fund effective projects.

    Grant Ethics: Organizational Capacity and Readiness Grant Ethics Session 3 of the Grant Ethics Series Issues of ethics abound when grant professionals examine their organization's readiness to apply for grants. Is the grant aligned to the organization's strategic plan or is the organization chasing money and causing...

    Organizational Readiness Session 3 of the Grant Funding Basics Series Should your organization be applying for grants? Are you grant ready? What does grant ready mean anyway? This session examines the readiness of organizations for grant revenue starting at the top with the board, then it examines the...

  Ethics: Creating Ethical Grant Budgets and Sustainability Plans Session 6 of the Ethics Series For many organizations, a federal grant will be a significant expansion to an existing program or the initial funding for a program that does not yet exist. This can make the creation of...

  Ethics: The Ethics of Program Design: Plans and Partners Session 5 of the Ethics Series Creating a high-quality grant proposal can be challenging when organizations may also be designing the program at the same time. Alignment to the mission of the organization and its strategic plan versus...

    Ethics: Ethics for Grant Proposal Need Statements Session 4 of the Ethics Series The way grant professionals describe the needs of their community is an important part of persuading reviewers and grant funders to award a grant. Which need is greatest and most aligned to the funders’...

    Ethics: Organizational Capacity and Readiness Grant Ethics Session 3 of the Ethics Series Issues of ethics abound when grant professionals examine their organization's readiness to apply for grants. Is the grant aligned to the organization's strategic plan or is the organization chasing money and causing mission creep?...

    Ethics: Grant Ethics for Prospect Research and Funder Relationships Session 2 of the Ethics Series Have you ever been uncomfortable applying to a foundation which didn’t seem to really match your organization’s profile? Many nonprofit professionals are pressured into writing to foundations who don’t match their giving...

    Ethics: Grant Ethics Codes of Conduct: What Do They Say and Why are They Different Session 1 of the Ethics Series Ethics in grants can be a hot-button discussion, but what does it mean to be an ethical grant professional? In this first session on grant ethics,...

    Grants 301: Managing Up Session 5 of the Grants 301 Series One of the greatest challenges we face as grant professionals is getting the information and resources needed to craft project ideas and develop competitive proposals. This information is often spread across multiple people and departments…from finance to...