This session will utilize peer-to-peer learning to explore practical strategies for evaluating grant programs from start to finish. Discussion topics include what metrics are meaningful and to whom and methods for evaluation. Guided discussions will use real-world examples, reflecting diverse organizational contexts (e.g., small vs. large programs), will highlight what organizations aimed to measure (program, portfolio, and field-level impact), the metrics and approaches used, what worked well—and what didn’t—and key lessons on what they would do differently.

In-Person Roundtable Facilitators:

• Diane Bovenkamp, PhD –  Vice President, Scientific Affairs, BrightFocus Foundation
  Topic: Measuring Long-Term and Portfolio-Level Outcomes – How can nonprofits track outcomes that emerge after funding ends and understand impact across awards, programs, and the broader portfolio?
  One of the challenges with communicating impact of funding to donors, Board members, senior leadership and other key stakeholders is to have a comprehensive assessment of funding over a number of decades. Therefore the assessment of scientific impact should be accomplished in many ways.
  

• Laura Douglas – Sr. Manager of Grants and Impact, Arthritis National Research Foundation (ANRF)
  Topic: Using Evaluation for Learning, Strategy, and Stakeholder Engagement
  How can evaluation findings support program improvement, strategic decisions, board discussions, fundraising, external communications, and stronger relationships with grantees and communities?

• Alycia Halladay, PhD – Chief Science Officer, Autism Science Foundation
  Topic: Who, What, When, Where and Why? Planning collection of outcomes for different types of grants and different audiences
  Many organizations grapple with the balance of presenting academically relevant and interesting metrics such as publication, citations, H index and Altmetrics with more tangible discoveries or stories of discoveries by funders which opened up new avenues of research. The latter requires more of a storytelling approach and the former is more data oriented. When do you use different types of metrics, how are they collected, how often and why? What do you report out to the board vs. donors vs. the general public? We will discuss different approaches to outcomes and advantages and strategies to collect them.
  

Virtual Roundtable Facilitators:

• Diomaris Gonzalez – Director, Grant Programs, Lupus Research Alliance
  Topic: How can impact measurement be embedded into grants management, reporting, relationship management, and other routine operations rather than relying on periodic retrospective studies?
  Many organizations struggle to measure the long-term impact of funded research once grants have ended, as traditional survey-based approaches often capture incomplete data and experience declining engagement over time. This breakout will discuss approaches to overcome some of these limitations.

• Mary Harkins-Schwarz, MPH – Associate Vice President, Impact Measurement, Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation
  Topic: Choosing Metrics That Are Meaningful, Feasible, and Actionable – How can organizations move beyond easily counted outputs to measures that illuminate program value, while keeping data collection proportionate to staff and grantee capacity?
  This perspective will bring together representatives from patient registries housed within disease-based nonprofit organizations to discuss how they define, measure, and communicate impact across the full lifecycle. Registries are often evaluated not just on data volume, but on their ability to support outcomes research, fill evidence gaps, and demonstrate data quality, completeness, and usefulness to stakeholders. Using IBD Plexus as a guiding example, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation will share what we have done to measure outcomes, then invite peers to compare approaches, metrics, and lessons learned around program evaluation, outcomes tracking, and field-level value.

• Britta Magnuson – Senior Scientific Advisor, Health Resources in Action
  Topic: Defining Impact and Asking the Right Evaluation Questions: How should health nonprofits define impact, and which questions should an evaluation answer for staff, boards, funders, grantees, and other stakeholders?
  We will discuss real world examples of how to work with stakeholders to determine what program evaluation questions to ask. This includes determining the audience for the evaluation, which questions/stakeholders take priority, and what the final output will be. We will also discuss ways to measure impact, such as grantee outcomes and grant program outcomes. Come ready to share ideas and be part of the discussion!