Foundations toolbox

Research: the road to greater effectiveness

By Nyegosh Dube, EFC

How can a foundation better understand the social problems it seeks to solve? How can it improve its grantmaking to make it more effective in solving those problems? How can it have more impact on public policy? One avenue for achieving these goals is research.
organisations, says Williamson. Similarly, Prager notes that JRCT makes research available to its grantees to enable them to illuminate their own work. But Williamson stresses that its not only a question of in uencing policymaking, but also practice on the ground, and practice not only of public o cials but of NGOs as well. In any case, government policy often changes very slowly, so its not always about a quick win but about building up evidence over a longer period. The boundaries between traditionally research-oriented foundations and other foundations are also getting fuzzier through collaboration between the two. The Volkswagen Foundation, one of Europes leading research foundations, has teamed up in recent years with a variety of non-research-oriented foundations to address certain social and political issues, such as migration and integration. For example, the Volkswagen Foundation and eight other German foundations* have set up a Council of Experts on Integration and Migration. We have opened up more and more to this kind of policy exchange and to providing research to enable politicians to make better decisions, explains Wilhelm Krull, Secretary General of the Volkswagen Foundation. We are the only research-based foundation [on the Council] and the others are joining us from all kinds of di erent perspectives. [] This kind of consortium is one way of linking up social and policyoriented foundations with research funders. Through research, evidence can be provided on the various challenges foundations want to tackle.

Juliet Prager, Deputy Trust Secretary, Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust

Rob Williamson, Director of Policy and Communication s, Nor thern Rock Foundation (Simon Veit-Wilson)

Wilhelm Krull, Secretary Gen eral, Volk swagen Foundation

Foundations have been among the primary funders of research carried out by universities and other institutions in natural sciences, medicine, social sciences and humanities to advance knowledge, chart social trends and nd new cures. But this has been the domain of a relatively limited number of research-focused foundations, such as the Volkswagen Foundation, Wellcome Trust, and Riksbankens Jubileumsfond. For most other foundations, especially those working on social issues, research has played a limited role. Yet research represents an untapped potential that more foundations could utilise to pursue their statutory objectives. In the past ve years a wider range of trusts and foundations in the UK have turned to research to achieve their objectives. And so, the boundaries are now blurring between these and the explicitly research-oriented foundations, according to Rob Williamson, Director of Policy and Communications at Northern Rock Foundation. The foundation is using research that it has commissioned to help tackle domestic violence in northern England. Its important that when we

invest our funds we do so in a way that is e ective and in order to be e ective, we have to understand the problems were seeking to tackle, says Williamson. Were interested in research that informs policy and practice as opposed to simply the academic pursuit of knowledge. Another UK funder, the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT), has commissioned research projects on asylum-seekers in the West Yorkshire region of England. Like Northern Rock Foundation, JRCT uses research ndings as evidence to back up e orts to in uence policymaking. As Juliet Prager, Deputy Trust Secretary at JRCT, puts it: Youve got to make the case. No politician or local council wants to hear a moral argument, they want to hear facts. Both JRCT and Northern Rock Foundation seek to achieve policy impact by getting their grantmaking right, and sharing knowledge with their grantees, as it is primarily the grantees who are on the frontlines of advocacy. Were actively using the lessons from the research weve been involved in to inform the kind of grants we make, and to run seminars for grant recipients and other voluntary

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Focusing on research
An increasing number of foundations are using research as means to pursue a wide range of di erent objectives in line with their particular priorities. Representatives of more than 100 organisations took part in the recent conference of the European Forum on Philanthropy and Research Funding on Partnerships in Research, which took place in Milan on 2 December 2008. The Association of Charitable Foundations will be running a workshop on research issues next April, and the next EFC Annual Conference in Rome (14-16 May 2009) will also be looking into how research can help foundations tackle poverty. European Forum on Philanthropy and Research Funding: www.efc.be/research_forum For more information please contact Mathieu Cantegreil: MCantegreil@efc.be

together and it might be a more sensible solution to work with others with more research expertise. Get people on board early on: It is essential to get people representing a wide range of perspectives involved in a research project at an early stage. For example - you could set up an advisory group or steering committee with relevant stakeholders such as: politicians, public servants, NGOs working in the eld, researchers, and people from the target group. This is probably the single most important step in ensuring that research will have a positive impact. Because they were involved in shaping the research, NGOs were much happier to use it afterwards in their own campaigns, says Prager. This is echoed by Krull: Our experience shows that its important to make sure [the stakeholders] develop a sense of ownership. Have a communication strategy: Develop a clear plan for how to disseminate your research ndings. Getting stakeholders on board at the development stage helps to create communication channels that will make dissemination much easier later on. For example - JRCT has used highpro le ambassadors to communicate the ndings of its research project on destitute asylum-seekers in Leeds. Also, think about using a variety of communication tools (e.g. events, seminars, and websites) and present the ndings in a way that is accessible for your target audiences. Plan for the future: Start thinking at an early stage about what you expect to get out of the project and how the ndings of your research could be used after the project has been completed. According to Krull, it is important to ensure an interactive process with opportunities for mutual learning and to keep that interactive process alive, so that it doesnt simply stop when the research is done.

The Volkswagen Foundation is also partnering with foundations on other issues such as European foreign and security policy and education policy reform. Once a foundation has decided that it needs a particular issue researched, what should it do to ensure that the research is of high quality and that, once completed, it has a strong impact? Based on the experience of their respective foundations, Krull, Prager and Williamson suggest a few rules of thumb that others might wish to follow: Know your issue and be precise: Make sure you properly identify the issue and de ne the problem to be researched as precisely as possible. Dont reinvent the wheel: Before embarking on or commissioning research, rst see if there is existing research on the particular question youre interested in. There is an enormous amount of research already out there. Stop and think whether you can genuinely add value by investing in research, advises Williamson. Talk to the experts: If you dont have the necessary knowledge within your foundation, try to nd an external

consultant or institution with the required expertise. It is vital that the research methodology stand up to scrutiny. This applies both to research you commission directly and research supported through grants. Consult with others: The biggest challenge for most foundations is to identify high-quality, independent researchers who can provide sound, empirically-based results. To do this, consult with others, especially other foundations who have relevant experience. Use a platform such as the EFCs European Forum on Philanthropy and Research Funding, which aims to facilitate the sharing of experience and expertise on research. Collaborate with others: Consider joining forces with a research foundation and forming a consortium. All partners can bene t from pooling their experiences, knowledge and expertise. Besides the synergies produced this way, joint ventures will often have more impact on decision-makers and other major stakeholders than would a foundation acting on its own. As Williamson says: Dont always think you have to go it alone. There are interesting opportunities for funders to work

* Bertelsmann Foundation, Bosch Foundation, Freudenberg Foundation, Hertie Foundation, Krber Foundation, Mercator Foundation, Vodafone Foundation, and Ebelin and Gerd Bucerius ZEIT Foundation.

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