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New Experiments in Minority Voter Mobilization: Third and Final Report on the California Votes Initiative
This report offers new insights about voter mobilization strategies used in our California Votes Initiative. Launched in 2006, the initiative supported nine nonprofit organizations as they reached out to infrequent voters in low-income and ethnic communities in the San Joaquin Valley and parts of Southern California. This publication, the third and final report on the initiative, summarizes findings from the entirety of the project’s experiments. It examines the long-term effects of voter mobilization and the effects of specific approaches, such as canvassing and phone calls, on voter attitudes toward politics and political engagement. Qualitative analyses explore the components of a successful get-out-the-vote campaign and identify five practices organizations of many types may use to increase turnout.
Download (November 2009) (PDF, 215 KB)
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Work-Based Learning in California: Opportunities and Models for Expansion
Work-based learning is an educational strategy that links academic instruction with the world of work. By itself, it is a powerful tool for motivating students and enhancing learning. But it holds particular promise in the context of multiple pathways, an approach to high school reform in California that seeks to prepare more young people for success both in college and the workplace. This report by WestEd takes a broad look at work-based learning in California: how it is practiced, what it looks like when done well and how it could be expanded to engage more students.
Download (November 2009) (PDF, 428 KB)
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Convergence: How Five Trends Will Reshape the Social Sector
This report highlights five key trends and how their coming together will shape the social sector of the future. Based on extensive review of existing research and in-depth interviews with thought leaders and nonprofit leaders and activists, it explores the trends (Demographic Shifts; Technological Advances; Networks Enabling Work to be Organized in New Ways; Rising Interest in Civic Engagement and Volunteerism; and Blurring of Sector Boundaries) and looks at the ways nonprofits can successfully navigate the changes. The monograph is by La Piana Consulting, a national firm dedicated to strengthening nonprofits and foundations.
Download (November 2009) (PDF, 855 KB)
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What Helps Leaders Grow: Highlights from the Fund for Leadership Advancement
This report presents key insights from Irvine’s Fund for Leadership Advancement, an initiative to improve the leadership abilities of executive directors of selected grantee organizations. Based on an evaluation of the first 20 participating organizations, it finds that relatively small investments in leadership support can yield important gains in organizational effectiveness. And it suggests that the fund’s approach, which includes executive coaching and consulting on organizational development, is an effective one, although it identifies some areas for improvement. The evaluation was conducted by BTW informing change, a firm that provides information-based services, including evaluation, to the nonprofit and philanthropic sector.
Download (October 2009) (PDF, 470 KB)
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Making Progress Through California Multiple Pathways: Findings from the ConnectEd Network of Schools Evaluation, 2007-2008
High school students participating in 16 California multiple pathways programs generally graduated at higher rates, met university requirements in greater numbers, performed better on high school exit exams and were more engaged in school and learning. This report summarizes a 2007-2008 study of the ConnectEd Network of Schools, capturing positive results as well as challenges. Results are not considered conclusive, but provide encouragement and insight as Irvine launches a larger-scale demonstration: the California Multiple Pathways District Initiative. The report is also intended to offer insights to funders, policymakers and practitioners who, like Irvine, see great potential in California multiple pathways to help students build a strong foundation for success in college and career—and life. The study was conducted by MPR Associates, Inc., a leading education research and consulting firm.
Download (September 2009) (PDF, 2.20 MB)
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Assessing California’s Multiple Pathways Field
After four years of pursuing a strategy to advance multiple pathways in California high schools, Irvine asked the Bridgespan Group to assess the state of the multiple pathways field. Bridgespan consulted with more than 80 leaders in the field, as well as a few prominent skeptics of the approach, to inform its research. A separate field-assessment framework was developed identifying five key characteristics of strong fields. This report evaluates the multiple pathways field against those characteristics and makes recommendations to strengthen and advance the field.
Download Full Report (June 2009) (PDF, 2 MB)
Download Brief (June 2009) (PDF, 265 KB)
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The Strong Field Framework: A Guide and Toolkit for Funders and Nonprofits Committed to Large-Scale Impact
As part of its work to advance the multiple pathways approach to high school education, Irvine engaged the Bridgespan Group to develop a framework for assessing the nature and needs of the fields in which nonprofits operate. These agents of change often struggle to understand how to focus their field-building investments and activities because they lack a comprehensive and coherent map of the strengths and weaknesses of their field. This framework provides a guide for building more robust fields and can help foundations and nonprofits prioritize their investments.
Download (June2009) (PDF, 412 KB)
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Evaluation Kit for Trustees
A new survey of foundation trustees highlights the importance of improved evaluation techniques in order to meet their needs and increase the effectiveness of the foundations they lead. FSG Social Impact Advisors, with funding from The James Irvine Foundation, interviewed dozens of foundation trustees, CEOs and evaluation experts, with a particular focus on California foundations, to uncover critical issues and important ideas related to evaluation. The resulting Evaluation Kit for Trustees sheds light on what foundation trustees think about evaluation — and provides foundations with tools for engaging their trustees in exploring and informing evaluation strategies.
What’s the Difference, a summary of trustee perspectives on evaluation. (June 2009) (PDF, 742 KB)
Snapshots, brief case studies that illustrate how trustees are successfully using evaluations. (June 2009) (PDF, 704 KB)
Let’s Consider Evaluation, a simple self-assessment to capture trustee points of view on evaluation purpose, method and cost. (June 2009) (PDF, 484 KB)
Let’s Discuss Evaluation, a framework for leading a meaningful trustee dialogue on evaluation, including a facilitator’s guide. (June 2009) (PDF, 499KB and 481 KB)
Let’s Make Evaluation Work, a planning guide for unraveling common evaluation issues and indentifying strategies that might work for your organization.
(June 2009) (PDF, 493 KB)
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The Inland Empire Nonprofit Sector: A Growing Region Faces the Challenges of Capacity
Irvine engaged the Institute for Nonprofit Organization Management, University of San Francisco, to help identify strengths and challenges in the nonprofit sector of the Inland Empire, a vast region with a diverse and growing population. As this two-county region grows and changes, its nonprofit infrastructure is not keeping pace. This report documents the results of a five-year study of nonprofit contributions to the region, compares it with the nonprofit sectors of other Southern California regions, and looks at nonprofit fiscal health. Intended to help prepare civic, nonprofit and philanthropic leaders of the Inland Empire to take action, this report spotlights key issues and offers recommendations for strengthening the region’s nonprofit sector.
Executive Summary (March 2009) (PDF, 2.90 MB)
Full Report (March 2009) (PDF, 2.95 MB)
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Cultural Engagement in California's Inland Regions
Irvine commissioned WolfBrown and the Alliance for California Traditional Arts to investigate patterns of cultural engagement in the San Joaquin Valley and the Inland Empire. These two rapidly growing, ethnically diverse regions of California have a combined population of nearly eight million people. The study surveyed more than 6,000 people and uncovered a range of cultural activity in music, theater and drama, reading and writing, dance, and visual arts and crafts — much of which occurs off the radar of the traditional infrastructure of nonprofit arts organizations and facilities. Study results paint a detailed picture of cultural engagement and suggest new opportunities for cultural service providers and funders.
Executive Briefing is a nine-page document providing high-level findings and discussion questions for cultural service providers and funders. (October 2008) (PDF, 354 KB)
Report Summary is a 24-page summary of the full report. (October 2008)
(PDF, 328 KB)
Full Report is a 189-page document including attachments. (October 2008)
(PDF, 1.25 MB)
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New Experiments in Minority Voter Mobilization: Second in a Series of Reports on the California Votes Initiative
This report identifies a set of best practices for significantly increasing voting rates in ethnic and low-income communities. Research was conducted as part of the Foundation's California Votes Initiative which aims to increase voting rates in the San Joaquin Valley and parts of Southern California. The findings show how specific approaches for contacting potential voters can raise participation — particularly among population groups who are underrepresented at the ballot box. This update on the initial findings, published in September 2007 (available here), includes new insights gleaned from outreach conducted prior to the February and June 2008 elections.
Download Report (September 2008) (PDF, 222 KB)
Download one-page summary (September 2008) (PDF, 160 KB)
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'Dual Enrollment' Opportunities in California
A new report from the Community College Research Center sheds light on the current policies and practices that shape "dual enrollment" efforts in California. The report, funded by Irvine as part of our Youth program, demonstrates the feasibility of using dual enrollment programs to enhance college and career pathways for low-income youth who are struggling academically or who are within populations historically underrepresented in higher education. Dual enrollment programs offer high school students opportunities to take challenging college-level courses on a high school or college campus and earn college credits. Research suggests that career-focused dual enrollment programs can improve secondary and postsecondary academic outcomes for a variety of students.
Download (August 2008) (PDF, 329 KB)
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Foundations and Public Policy Grantmaking
An Irvine-commissioned white paper explores the range of ways private foundations can engage in public policy. The paper, by independent consultant Julia Coffman, who has worked with numerous foundations, proposes a framework for public policy grantmaking. The paper suggests specific lessons that foundations should keep in mind when considering policy-related grantmaking, and highlights four case studies illustrating the variety of approaches foundations should consider. Irvine is increasingly engaged in the public policy arena, so we commissioned the paper to deepen our understanding of policy-related grantmaking.
Download (March 2008) (PDF, 575 KB)
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What Matters, What Works: Advancing Achievement After School
This brief underscores the potential of after-school programs to advance children's academic achievement. It shines a light on what matters most for programs that strive to promote academic success namely, program quality and youth engagement and it suggests what works by linking these program attributes to academic benefits. Based on the full outcomes report "Advancing Achievement," by Public/Private Ventures, the brief draws lessons from the Foundation's Communities Organizing Resources to Advance Learning (CORAL) initiative. CORAL was an eight-year, $58 million after-school initiative aimed at improving education achievement in low-performing schools in five California cities.
Download (February 2008) (PDF, 832 KB)
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Advancing Achievement: Findings from an Independent Evaluation of a Major After-School Initiative
This report presents full outcomes research on CORAL, an eight-year, $58 million after-school initiative aimed at improving education achievement in low-performing schools in five California cities. Findings in this report demonstrate the relationship between high-quality literacy programming and academic gains, and they highlight the potential role that quality programs may play in the ongoing drive to improve academic achievement. Commissioned by Irvine, this report was written by Public/Private Ventures.
Download (February 2008) (PDF, 770 KB)
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Supporting Success: Why and How to Improve Quality in After-School Programs
This report, commissioned by Irvine and written by Public/Private Ventures, examines the program improvement strategies, step-by-step, that allowed the Foundation's CORAL initiative to achieve the levels of quality needed to boost the academic success of young students. The report also makes specific policy and funding suggestions for improving program performance. Communities Organizing Resources to Advance Learning (CORAL) was an eight-year, $58 million
after-school initiative aimed at improving education achievement in low-performing schools in five California cities.
Download (February 2008) (PDF, 554 KB)
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After-School Toolkit: Tips, Techniques and Templates for Improving Program Quality
This toolkit, commissioned by Irvine and developed by Public/Private Ventures, offers program managers a practical, hands-on guide for implementing quality programming in the after-school hours. The kit includes the tools and techniques that increased the quality of literacy-focused programming and helped improve student reading gains in the Foundation's Communities Organizing Resources to Advance Learning (CORAL) initiative — an eight-year, $58 million after-school endeavor to improve education achievement in low-performing schools in five California cities.
Download (February 2008) (PDF, 820 KB)
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Gaining Ground: Supporting English Learners Through After-School Literacy Programming
New research has found English learners achieving reading gains comparable to those of their English-proficient classmates. This brief, commissioned by Irvine and written by Public/Private Ventures, presents findings that demonstrate a relationship between key approaches in CORAL — the Foundation's eight-year, $58 million after-school initiative — and the academic progress of English learners. In addition to presenting findings, the brief suggests important considerations for any policymaker and funder interested in the success of English learners as a growing student population.
Download (February 2008) (PDF, 370 KB)
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Tools to Help Community Foundations Advance Their Visibility
New tools developed and tested through Irvine's Community Foundations Initiative II are available for application by community foundations everywhere. An individual assessment and an individual action plan help board members take stock of, and enhance, their readiness to act as ambassadors promoting the value of their community foundation to local stakeholders. A sample legacy brochure helps board members introduce the concept of endowment giving to their personal contacts.
Downloads: (October 2007)
Individual Assessment (PDF, 31 KB)
Individual Action Plan (PDF, 35 KB)
Sample Legacy Brochure (PDF, 502 KB)
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Growing Smarter: Achieving Sustainability in Emerging Community Foundations
It's a striking paradox: As community foundations grow their assets, their sustainability is often threatened. This report, written by FSG Social Impact Advisors, offers guidance for how community foundations of virtually any size can achieve growth and sustainability, based on the experiences of 24 community foundations in California and around the United States. The report includes new data, case studies and a comparison of economic models. An Executive Summary and Discussion Guide, included in the paper, are also available as separate files for easy distribution. A Board Presentation introduces core concepts of the report.
Downloads: (October 2007)
Full Report (PDF, 2 MB)
Executive Summary (PDF, 175 KB)
Discussion Guide (PDF, 37 KB)
Board Presentation (PPT, 5.6 MB)
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New Experiments in Minority Voter Mobilization: A Report on the California Votes Initiative
This report evaluates the effectiveness of various voter outreach strategies designed to increase turnout among infrequent voters in California. As part of the California Votes Initiative, the Irvine Foundation supports a group of nonprofit organizations enlisted to mobilize voters in low-income and ethnic communities in the San Joaquin Valley and parts of Southern California. This report documents findings from the first phase of the initiative, covering the June 2006, November 2006 and March 2007 elections.
Download (Sept 2007) (PDF, 1 MB)
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