Ask Nicole Archives - Nicole Clark Consulting

6 May, 2026

Ask Nicole: What Is A Strong Funder Portfolio?

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2026-05-11T11:41:53-04:00May 6th, 2026|Categories: Strategic Planning & Sustainability|Tags: Ask Nicole, Funding, Grantees, Grantmaking, Nonprofits, Philanthropy|0 Comments

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I wrote about why funders should create a process for evaluating their portfolios. Since then, I’ve been sitting with a related question: What makes a funder portfolio strong?

In my work with funders — particularly those who have brought me in to support their grantees — I’ve seen how easy it is for portfolios to take shape organically rather than intentionally. Over time, investments accumulate, priorities evolve, and new opportunities emerge. And while each individual grant may be well-intentioned, the portfolio as a whole may not reflect a clear strategy.

That’s where a more strategic, portfolio-level lens becomes essential.

Here are five questions to ask:

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4 Mar, 2026

Ask Nicole: Why Should Funders Evaluate Their Portfolios?

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2026-03-03T23:32:14-05:00March 4th, 2026|Categories: Research & Evaluation|Tags: Ask Nicole, Funding, Grantees, Philanthropy, program evaluation|0 Comments

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Over the past few years, I’ve found myself increasingly in spaces with funders.

Not only are they hiring me to evaluate individual grantee programs, but I’m also working alongside their grantees, support learning agendas, and strengthen strategy implementation.

In one recent engagement, I partnered with a funder to develop a theory of change designed to sharpen and improve their investments in sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice. That work pushed me to think more deeply about the relationship between how funders award individual grants and the broader ecosystem a funder is trying to influence.

Recently, I’ve shifted my focus toward evaluating at a more strategic level.

Not only should we ask, “Did this grantee meet their outputs?”, funders should also ask, “Is this portfolio coherent?”Is it equitable? What measurable change is this portfolio driving, and how has it increased grantees’ capacity to sustain that change?

These are bigger questions. To answer them, funders — especially program officers responsible for managing funding portfolios — must step back and examine not only what they fund, but how and why they fund it.

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4 Feb, 2026

Ask Nicole: Evidence-Based….for WHO?

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2026-02-02T13:17:32-05:00February 4th, 2026|Categories: Program, Service, & Campaign Design|Tags: Ask Nicole, evaluation, Evidence-Based, Nonprofits, program design, Research|0 Comments

So, what exactly is “evidence-based”?

I’ve been thinking a lot about this, how often people invoke it, how rarely they interrogate it, and how much weight it carries in nonprofit work.

At first glance, the idea seems straightforward: Programs and services should rely on evidence. In practice, I’ve seen people define, apply, and enforce standards in ways that shape what gets funded and whose evidence counts.

Over time, my own thinking has shifted. I understand the importance of evidence in framing effective programs and services and improving outcomes. At the same time, I’ve grown more attentive to how evidence, when use prescriptively, can flatten complexity, limit innovation, and miss the realities of the communities nonprofits are trying to serve.

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3 Dec, 2025

Ask Nicole: Do Our Internal Policies Reflect Our Reproductive Justice Values?

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2025-12-03T11:03:58-05:00December 3rd, 2025|Categories: Equity & Justice|Tags: Ask Nicole, Organizational Culture, Organizational Sustainability, reproductive justice, Strategic Planning|0 Comments

Close-up of Nicole Clark smiling confidently, with the text “Ask Nicole” at the top and “Do Our Internal Policies Reflect Our Reproductive Justice Values?” across the center. The image has a bold purple border and branding for Nicole Clark Consulting at the bottom. — Have a question you’d like to be featured? Let me know.

It’s one thing for an organization to align itself with Reproductive Justice (RJ) in theory, but it’s another to embody those values in daily operations.

Executive directors of RJ organizations represent their organization’s stance in statements, partnerships, and programming. But what’s happening behind the scenes?

Internal processes (e.g., hiring, pay transparency, leadership structures, and benefits) often reveal whether an organization’s commitment to RJ is aspirational or actualized.

If you’re leading an organization that claims to embrace RJ, the most honest question you can ask is: Do our internal policies reflect our RJ values?

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12 Nov, 2025

Ask Nicole: Why Theories of Change and Logic Models Aren’t Useful

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2025-11-10T15:25:13-05:00November 12th, 2025|Categories: Program, Service, & Campaign Design|Tags: Ask Nicole, Grantees, Logic Models, Philanthropy, Theory of Change|0 Comments

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Several years ago, I worked on a proposal for a collaborative project. The RFP asked for a narrative and a logic model for the process we were proposing. We spent time crafting both, but I remember thinking: What’s the point of requiring both, especially if you’re still going to come back with additional questions?

If the narrative is clear and if we can articulate what we’re trying to do, isn’t that enough?

I’ve also had nonprofit clients tell me they only create logic models funding, and never revisit them after submitting their proposal.. Or that they only build ToCs when funders require them, not because they find them useful. But the most striking moment was during a funder ToC session I facilitated, where program officers openly questioned whether they themselves would use the tool once it was built.

Theories of change (ToCs) and logic models are treated as standard tools. For some funders, they’re a default request to understand a grantee’s vision, approach, and impact. For some nonprofits, they’re just another part of the proposal process.

But they aren’t useful.

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