Making Sense of Your Foundation Data with Dashboards and Scorecards

Presenters: Roberto Cremonini, Chief Knowledge & Learning Officer, Barr Foundation
Alfred Gracombe, President, Gracombe IT Solutions

Even as foundations increasingly use grants management systems to collect a tremendous amount of data on their grantmaking activities, the opportunity to access and use this data to manage and monitor the effectiveness and impact of a foundation’s work is rarely realized. This shortcoming often translates to additional responsibilities and work for grants managers, who are often the main conduit of critical information in their organizations. In this session, we will introduce the notion of dashboards and scorecards and show how the Barr Foundation is using these tools to inform key strategic and budgetary decisions and ensure that staff and board have a shared understanding of where the foundation stands on key performance measures. While not intended for a technical audience, the presentation also will discuss how Barr used technology to build its dashboard and share lessons learned throughout the implementation process.

Document: 

Making Sense of Your Foundation Data with Dashboards and Scorecards - Cremonini & Gracombe - GMN 2010.pdf