Over the past 12 years, ORS Impact has produced 40 (yes, 40!) evaluation reports as Fund for Shared Insight’s learning and evaluation partner, ranging from annual check-ins and three-year assessments against the collaborative’s theory of change to more targeted looks at specific initiatives and areas of work. One of our goals over this time has been to make these reports accessible to the field so that the sector can also benefit from what the collaborative has tried and learned.
The most recent (and final) of these reports, “Shared Insights: Evaluating Fund for Shared Insight, a Decade of Listening in the Social Sector,” was published last month in advance of the collaborative’s planned sunset in June 2026. Now, I offer a “Top Five List” of ways you will benefit from reading this summative strategy evaluation and engaging with its body of work.
If you dive in, you’ll:
No. 5. Be privy to what didn’t work so well. While many efforts bore impressive fruit, not everything worked as well as intended (like some of the funder change efforts). This can be expected as philanthropy should be risk-taking and envelope-pushing at times. This unvarnished picture, which includes details on what you could try to do differently, might help you stop from spinning your own wheels.
No. 4. Get a roadmap on what did work well. Some things worked extremely well, like efforts to scale high-quality feedback practices in the nonprofit sector and to build and strengthen the feedback field. Learn more about the successes and apply your new knowledge to what you think needs to change and improve.
No. 3. Geek out on the evaluation. Few evaluations see the broad light of day, and few organizations commit to evaluating (and publishing) the long-arc impact of their strategy over time. Get inspired to dig into your own story, asking similar questions of your work, organization, or grantmaking portfolio.
No. 2. Focus in on what you care about most. This evaluation goes deep and wide. It looks at strategy approaches to field building, promoting organizational practices at scale, changing funder behavior, building equity into strategy, and more. What’s your area of interest?
And the No. 1 reason you should read this 100-page evaluation: You won’t have to start from scratch.
Shared Insight’s commitment to learning and sharing has created an uncommon resource for those who want to build on its work. We all know that philanthropy can be too siloed and private in its learning and evaluation. This report cracks that open. Whatever your work, there’s sure to be something in here relevant to what you’re doing and/or that you didn’t know you needed!
Plus, here’s a bonus reason to go for it: You can explore the report interactively using AI! Through this Notebook LM link, you can listen to an AI-generated podcast, ask specific questions of the report, review an AI-generated deck of the findings, or create the specific resource most valuable to you.
However you choose to journey into Shared Insight’s 12 years of strategy, stumbles, and hard-won lessons, enjoy! We’ll be ready for you to thank us later.
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