Listening, questioning and acting to drive better philanthropy

The Phil Eval Network has a dedicated focus on evaluation for learning and transformation – to foster a genuine commitment to relationships and dialogue between funders, grantees/partners and the communities they seek to serve. Phil Eval is exploring how listening deeply, asking the right questions and acting on what you have heard, can transform funder evaluation practices. Dr Elizabeth Branigan, Philanthropy Evaluation Network Manager, reflects on the success of its recent conference sessions, plus what’s coming up.

A series of events is showcasing great practice in the Phil Eval space – and are creating time and effort to explore actions to shifts these practices and foster genuine change.

Deep listening for greater equity and accountability

At the Philanthropy Australia conference, Phil Eval ran a sold-out Masterclass on ‘Evaluation for Learning: Building Deep Listening Capability to Enhance Equity and Accountability.’ In this session, Kristine Kaukomaa showcased how Minderoo Foundation has taken up Deep Listening and how, slowly but surely, better communication, honesty, equity and two-way accountability is being fostered between Minderoo and their partners.

In a highly engaged, interactive (and noisy!) session that followed – masterclass facilitator Liz Branigan guided 60 funders and partners to explore deep listening skills through interactive exercises and applied Deep Listening techniques to complex, messy real-world funder/partner scenarios. Oscar Trimboli generously supported the session with his best-selling book How to Listen, from which participants chose techniques and applied them to their own organisational contexts.

In order to support further embedding these skills in practice, a facilitated online Community of Practice will commence on Wednesday, 25 September 4.00-5.00 pm, and run for 6 weeks. (EOI form is here). All participants will receive a free copy of the book How to Listen.

Asking the right questions 

One of the most important ways to get real value from listening is asking the right questions. Next Tuesday, The GovLab will join the Phil Eval Network via our monthly Share & Learn Series to discuss ‘Delivering a new science of questioning for philanthropy’.

In this hour-long session, Stefaan G. Verhulst and Hannah Chafetz from The GovLab will delve into their latest resources on DATA4Philanthropy.net – a platform for philanthropy that features a series of resources on how to leverage cutting-edge data-driven methods and tools across the grant-making decision cycle, developed with the support of the Paul Ramsay Foundation. The session will focus on how funders can use participatory approaches to formulate questions and an in-depth discussion of how data-driven questioning can drive impact for funder evaluations. 

Register Here: https://www.philanthropy.org.au/whats-on/philanthropy-evaluation-delivering-a-new-science-of-questioning-for-philanthropy/

Acting on what you hear

The final and most important element of Deep Listening and good questioning is acting on what you have heard. It is a source of great frustration to evaluators that 75% of evaluation data ends up in reports that are left on a shelf. Effective evaluation is a critical aspect of successful philanthropy. However, in too many cases, partner grantee reports contain few meaningful insights or are seen by funders as an end point, with the understandings in them having little to no impact on funder practices, grant processes or informing strategic changes that might better meet the needs of both grantees and the communities they serve. Evaluation for learning re-positions evaluation not as the end point but as a one step towards strategic change.

At this year’s Australian Evaluation Society conference, Phil Eval Steering Committee lead George Argyrous and Network Manager Liz Branigan will run a half-day workshop on ‘Designing funder evaluations to support strategic wayfinding’. This event will explore how to draft a framework for a funder evaluation that will ensure the results are really heard, determine how to gather data with a lens on gaining buy-in for improving funder practices and strategy and framing an evaluation report that can directly contribute to improved strategic outcomes. Key project partner, The Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network (AEGN), will share insights and learnings through a case study.

Call to action

Phil Eval’s innovative, evidence-led and practice-focused sessions answer a long-held call to improve the quality of evaluation practice throughout the sector, thereby directing more funds to the most important causes and effective initiatives – in turn improving the impact of charitable giving across Australia.    

The Philanthropy Evaluation (Phil Eval) Network is a member-driven community that empowers Australian funders with the knowledge, skills, resources and connections to use Measurement, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) to drive better philanthropy. Throughout 2024 it has grown to 100+ members – committed to co-creating a vibrant philanthropic evaluation ecosystem by sharing best practices and continuous learning. Please contact [email protected] if you would like to join the Phil Eval Network and/or receive the quarterly events bulletin. Or complete the EOI form.