Strengthening Philanthropic Next-Generation Place-Based Evaluations & Community Power

Over 15 years, many place-based foundations have shifted from centralized planning to a more dynamic, emergent mental model and approach where innovative work is cultivated in the communities. This paper explores the adaptations needed when evaluating emergent models of place-based philanthropy. This new paradigm has major implications for prospective evaluation design and implementation. When assessing changes in leadership, network growth, and shifts in power dynamics, the evaluator needs to integrate learning as core to strategy, characterized by listening and acting in response to organic system changes. Attention to causal pathways and emergent outcomes is critical to make sense of the contribution of change efforts. More fundamentally, emergent approaches have a broad range of users of the evaluation--within the foundation and the communities--with different learning interests and intervention foci. Drawing on a 2025 convening of funders at the forefront of place-based investment, this paper summarizes  challenges and innovative evaluation approaches across the country.

Doug Easterling – Professor, Department of Social Sciences & Health Policy, Wake Forest University, School of Medicine