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Research:

the road to greater effectivenessBy Nyegosh Dube, EFC

How can a foundation better understand the social problems it seeks to solve? How can itimprove its grantmaking to make it more effective in solving those problems? How can ithave more impact on public policy? One avenue for achieving these goals is research.

Foun

dations

toolbox

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 ofresearch-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 ob-jectives. And so, the boundaries are now

blurring between these and the explicitly

research-oriented foundations, accord-

ing to Rob Williamson, Director of Policy

and Communications at Northern Rock

Foundation. The foundation is using re-

search 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 eective and in order to be eective,

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 eorts to inuence 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 Foundationseek 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

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 inuencing policymaking,

but also practice on the ground, and

practice not only of public ocials 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 pe-

riod.

The boundaries between traditionally

research-oriented foundations and oth-

er foundations are also getting fuzzier

through collaboration between the two.

The Volkswagen Foundation, one of Eu-

ropes leading research foundations, has

teamed up in recent years with a variety

of non-research-oriented foundationsto address certain social and political is-

sues, such as migration and integration.

For example, the Volkswagen Founda-

tion and eight other German founda-

tions* 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 theonly research-based foundation [on the

Council] and the others are joining us

from all kinds of dierent perspectives.

[] This kind of consortium is one

way of linking up social and policy-

oriented foundations with research

funders. Through research, evidence

can be provided on the various

challenges foundations want to tackle.

Julie t Prager, Deputy Trust

Secretary, Joseph RowntreeCharitable Trust RobWilliamson,Directorof

PolicyandCommunications,NorthernRockFoundation(SimonVeit-Wilson)

WilhelmKrull,

SecretaryGeneral,VolkswagenFoundation

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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

dene 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, advisesWilliamson.

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 theEFCs 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 benet from pooling their

experiences, knowledge and expertise.

Besides the synergies produced this

way, joint ventures will often have

more impact on decision-makers andother 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

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 advisorygroup 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 high-

prole 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.

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

Focusing on researchAn increasing number of foundations are using research as means to pursue a

wide range of dierent objectives in line with their particular priorities. Rep-

resentatives 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 look-

ing 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