Autumn has tightened its chilly grip, and that means one thing – the US Supreme Court is back in session. In 2025-2026 the US Supreme Court will consider the Trump administration’s attempted evisceration of birthright citizenship, a challenge to a majority-Black Louisiana Congressional district, and whether a Colorado law barring “conversion therapy” violates the First …
Tag Archives: Evaluation
“Flexible Funding” / Rapid Response Evaluation: a Field Example
As 2025 unfolds, more social change philanthropies are providing “flexible funding” or “rapid response” grants to help grantees address chaotic times. Flexible funding / rapid response is a lifeline for many nonprofits and the communities they serve. It also provides valuable lessons about community needs and effective responses that philanthropies, advocates, and organizers can use …
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“Defensive advocacy”: Analyzing impact and communicating it effectively
“Defensive” periods are critically hard for social change activists. There are the “normal” challenges of organizing and advocacy: people, resources, time. There’s exhaustion, and a high emotional toll. On top of this, supporters can struggle to articulate how defense promotes their goals – goals that almost always were created with policy progress in mind. In …
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Lessons & Resources from 2017-2020
(1) Litigation as “storyboard.” Litigation in 2017-2020 (which, among other things, challenged harsh enforcement such as the Muslim Ban and “public charge”) protected vulnerable communities. It also was used by advocates as an effective “hook” to shape narrative, support organizing, and encourage policymakers to act. Organizers helped ensure that media reported on courtroom hearings and …
Six Tips for Launching a Successful Project with Your Consultant
For many social change organizations, summer is a time to take stock and plan for projects to start in the fall. If a consultant project is on your menu, I have some pointers to make the launch as smooth as possible. They are: 1) Identify who will be informed by the consultant project and what …
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Six Takeaways on the State of Evaluation from #AEA2023
I’ve attended the American Evaluation Association (AEA) annual conference for the past nine years. During this time, the conference schedule has increasingly featured presentations on collaborative and participatory measurement and learning (MLE) for nonprofit social change programs. Continuing that trend, evaluators at AEA 2023 presented on MLE projects where they are serving as facilitators and …
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Bars Are for Pitchers, Not Pitching
In a world where work can’t start until a cat is ejected from someone’s keyboard, private in-person business meetings are as rare as carbon paper. But a chat behind (real) closed doors is something that should not be lost entirely to the mists of time. In pre-pandemic 2019 I was an accidental witness to a …
Learning and Adapting on the Statewide Election Trail
Political campaigns were among the many activities of normal life upended by the sudden emergence of COVID-19 in the winter of 2020. State and local campaigns, which often turn on successful door-to-door voter contact, were particularly affected. In a Talking Points Memo piece co-authored with David Shorr, an evaluation colleague and local elected official, I …
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Welcome to Cog & Gear
A strong evaluation or measurement plan positions you to make the most of policy opportunities. It prepares you to better manage unforeseen challenges. And it helps you meet the information needs of your management, board, and funders efficiently, and with less stress. A good measurement plan creates tools and systems that generate meaningful data, while …
