Grantees Archives - Nicole Clark Consulting

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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19 Nov, 2025

What Nonprofits Actually Use to Plan and Track Their Work

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2025-11-19T10:55:15-05:00November 19th, 2025|Categories: Program, Service, & Campaign Design|Tags: Grantees, Logics Models, Philanthropy, Theory of Change|0 Comments

In last week’s post, I shared why logic models and theories of change (ToCs) often aren’t useful, especially when they’re created to meet funding requirements instead of guiding real-world decision-making.

This week, I want to shift the focus toward what is useful.

In response to my comment “And too often, [ToCs and logic models] are created to satisfy a requirement, not to support meaningful reflection or strategy”, a program evaluation subject matter expert replied:

Yes! This is why I would design logic models (or whatever term seemed more appropriate) that would be most helpful to the clients in helping them understand their program’s goals and how to approach them, rather than forcing everything into the same standardized template.

The tools I’ve seen my client organizations use to plan and reflect aren’t always ToCs or logic models. They’re things like annual work plans, end-of-program debriefs, and board reports.

And if you’re a funder, these tools can already tell you a lot of what you’re trying to learn about a grantee’s program or service.

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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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17 Apr, 2024

Ask Nicole: Managing Nonprofit Mission & Funder Demands

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2024-04-17T11:01:37-04:00April 17th, 2024|Categories: Strategic Planning & Sustainability|Tags: Ask Nicole, Grantees, Philanthropy|0 Comments

Have a question you’d like to be featured? Let me know.

I’ve been fortunate to work with a variety of client organizations, including philantrophy.

Navigating grantee-funder relationships while staying true to your mission is complex. It’s a landscape where aspirations to create meaningful change often intersect with the practicalities of securing funding.

However, amidst the pursuit of financial support, I’ve observed how nonprofits, in their eagerness to access resources, may place themselves in funding relationships that run counter to their organizational mission.

Ideally, grantees should be able to leverage a grantee-funder relationship while also feeling confident to push back against unreasonable demands and not lose sight of their mission. This delicate balancing act underscores the complexity and importance of navigating the grantee-funder relationship with confidence and integrity.

Here are five tips for maintaining your organizational mission while engaging building relationships with funders:

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