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Evidence and Evaluation: Getting from Promise to Proof
Following up her article Scaling What Works: Implications for Philanthropists, Policymakers and Nonprofit Leaders, EMCF President Nancy Roob addresses several questions and topics raised by nonprofits, funders, and policymakers who are confronted with the challenge of converting into legislation, regulations, and RFPs the Obama administration’s commitment to funding evidence-based programs that work. There is a growing political consensus to channel taxpayer funds to programs with proven impact, and the current economic crisis, the federal deficit, and limited state and local budgets make it likely this consensus will continue to grow.
Read Nancy Roob's Column
Preparing for Growth in Turbulent Times
In her latest letter, Nancy Roob provides an update on the Foundation's work helping its grantees navigate the current economic downturn and position themselves to take advantage of emerging opportunities. She writes, "We are supporting our grantees to the fullest, helping them develop alternative courses of action and realistic performance metrics, and doing our best to ensure that they are prepared to resume their upward trajectories as rapidly as circumstances permit."
Nurse-Family Partnership Expanding Its Reach Throughout the Country
President Obama’s proposed 2010 budget would establish a nationwide nurse-home visitation program, calling for more than $1.5 billion by 2016 to ensure that every eligible low-income first-time mother in America, an estimated 570,000 a year, can benefit from such services.
EMCF grantee Nurse-Family Partnership, a nurse home-visitation program proven to improve the long-term health and well-being of poor first-time mothers and their children, is expected to be a primary recipient of the proposed funding. Nurse-Family Partnership's successes have garnered wide recognition from Time magazine to the CBS Evening News.
Learn more about Nurse-Family Partnership
Obama Administration Cites Four EMCF Grantees
For Their Exemplary Programs
In May 2009, when the White House announced the creation of a Social Innovation Fund to support expanding “innovative, promising ideas that are transforming communities,” it cited as examples four grantees of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation: Nurse-Family Partnership, Youth Villages, Harlem Children’s Zone and Citizen Schools.
“The idea is simple,” said First Lady Michelle Obama: “to find the most effective programs out there and then provide the capital needed to replicate their success in communities around the country that are facing similar challenges.”
The evidence these four organizations have marshaled of their programs’ effectiveness accords with the Obama administration’s commitment to programs that have been proven to work.
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