Learning

Developing insights for impact

Strategy, Learning & Evaluation

The mission of WFF’s Strategy, Learning, & Evaluation Department (SLED) is to engage WFF program areas, grantees, and philanthropic partners with rigorous and inclusive evidence that fosters continuous learning for transformative impact.

For more information, read WFF’s Approach to Strategy, Learning & Evaluation and Guide to Measuring Success.

Our Core Values

Actionable We focus on providing the data, evidence, and related resources that staff need to support their reflection and learning, which in turn drives continuous improvement in the foundation’s strategies and impact.
Flexible The foundation and its grantees work in areas that are complex and highly fluid, requiring approaches that are customized to meet the needs and context of each project.
Culturally Relevant Programs that are focused on serving historically marginalized populations require research and evaluation approaches that culturally responsive and equitable.
Fair and Accurate Our projects are designed to meet the highest standards possible while recognizing that different approaches are necessary depending on the context.
Collaborative All SLED projects should be designed with input from multiple stakeholders, including foundation leadership, program staff, grantees, and external advisors as appropriate.
Transparent We strive to share the results and lessons learned from the foundation’s investments with the broader community (other funders, non-profit organizations, policymakers, influencers, and the public) so that they may gain from our experiences.
Cost-Effective We believe the level of resources utilized in our projects should be commensurate to the size and scale of the program or strategy involved, as well as the relative importance and implications of the work.

Strategic Learning

Strategic Learning is the collection and use of data and insights to inform decision making about strategy, so that our strategies are nimble and evolve to reflect what we know, to accelerate the pace and maximize the impact of WFF and our partners.

For more information, read our Introduction to Strategic Learning at WFF and Guide to Strategy Micro-Shifts.

To support our strategic learning efforts, we’ve also developed a Before- and After-Action Review tool that you may find helpful as well.

Grant Evaluation

At the foundation, each grant we make includes a set of performance measures. These measures help ensure that the foundation and its grantees have a shared vision of success and a shared understanding of how progress will be measured.

To promote objectivity and rigor, we prioritize the use of quantitative targets and analyses to measure performance. This is a challenging undertaking. Much of our work seeks to reform large, complex, and entrenched systems, such as K-12 education in the United States or fisheries management around the world. Progress in effecting such change can be difficult to assess quantitatively, and quantitative targets can be challenging to set. As a result, we sometimes include qualitative measures as well, to help evaluators consider and integrate complex and disparate information.

The performance measures for each grant are co-developed by grantees and their program officers, with support from SLED. Grantees are expected to report on these measures at pre-determined intervals throughout the grant period. Data from grantee reports helps inform foundation decision-making about future grants, as well as consideration of our Strategic Learning Questions.

All Walton Family Foundation grant applicants are encouraged to review the materials below, which explain how to compose complete and useful performance measures.

Metrics Bank

This online tool helps grantees build strong performance measures by customizing over 300 model metrics. Grantees are not required to use the Metrics Bank, but we hope it will be a valuable tool and help streamline the process of developing strong performance measures.

Once grantees register with the Metrics Bank, they may start customizing a selection of model metrics to reflect the nature of their work.

For more information, read the step-by-step guide or go straight to the Metrics Bank.

Please email info@metricsbank.wffmail.com with any questions.

Grant Metric Development Guides

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Home Region Program: How to Construct Performance Measures

Home Region Program: How to Construct Performance Measures

May 7, 2019

A Guide for Grant Applicants to the Walton Family Foundation's Home Region Program

Download
Environment Program: How to Construct Performance Measures

Environment Program: How to Construct Performance Measures

May 7, 2019

A Guide for Grant Applicants to the Walton Family Foundation's Environment Program

Download
K-12 Education Program: How to Construct Performance Measures

K-12 Education Program: How to Construct Performance Measures

May 7, 2019

A Guide for Grant Applicants to the Walton Family Foundation's K-12 Education Program

Download

Performance Measures

Performance measures play an important role in grantmaking – to help grantees and the Walton Family Foundation understand if goals have been achieved during the grant period. In these videos, grantees will learn how to establish performance measures, which can determine the success of project and provide valuable learnings along the way.

Developing Good Performance Measures for K-12 Education Grants

Performance Measures Education video thumbnail

Developing Good Performance Measures for K-12 Education Grants

Performance measures play an important role in grantmaking – to help grantees and the Walton Family Foundation understand if goals have been achieved during the grant period. In this video, grantees will learn how to establish performance measures, which can determine the success of project and provide valuable learnings along the way.

Developing Good Performance Measures for Environment Grants

SLED performance measures video thumbnail

Developing Good Performance Measures for Environment Grants

Performance measures play an important role in grantmaking – to help grantees and the Walton Family Foundation understand if goals have been achieved during the grant period. In this video, grantees will learn how to establish performance measures, which can determine the success of project and provide valuable learnings along the way.

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