Organizational Effectiveness

Strategies, tools, and case studies from Community Science to help organizations improve performance, strengthen capacity, and achieve lasting impact.

Navigating Difficult Conversations: A Bug’s Life

By |2026-08-13T13:40:27-04:00June 30, 2025|Organizational Effectiveness|

At Community Science, we often find ourselves reflecting on a powerful, recurring theme: how we, as evaluators, engage in difficult conversations and navigate moments of uncertainty with our partners-grantees, funders, and community leaders alike. These moments go beyond choosing the right words. They're about presence, trust, and the way we show up when the path forward isn't always clear. What follows is a glimpse into those reflections-insights from our team's…

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The Real Deal About Collaboration

By |2026-08-13T13:40:59-04:00June 30, 2025|Organizational Effectiveness|

Over the last several issues of our newsletter, we've explored the importance of understanding and respecting rural cultures-particularly how those insights influence the way we approach evaluations in rural communities. We've also highlighted recurring questions and lessons from place-based change initiatives. Across all community settings, one foundational value consistently emerges beneath both community attributes and evaluation practices: collaboration. Collaboration is essential-not only among community leaders and organizations striving for collective…

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Transformational Healing: Facing Hard Truths – Part 2

By |2026-08-13T13:41:24-04:00June 30, 2025|Organizational Effectiveness|

In Part 1 of Transformational Healing: Facing Hard Truths, I explored the limitations of the medical model of trauma and recommended community-led strategies to shift healing from something we must "afford" individually to something we intentionally cultivate together. In this post, I share how Black communities have developed survival strategies in response to the harms we have endured; however, these strategies can cause a different form of harm by denying…

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A Lesson from Nature: Ditch the Bucket List, You Can’t Do It All

By |2026-08-13T13:42:39-04:00April 28, 2025|Organizational Effectiveness|

In our ever-evolving world, where once-stable systems are fading away, the social sector is facing unprecedented challenges. There's a growing call for us to rise to the occasion and bridge the gaps in needs, resources, services, and connections within our communities. With so much to accomplish, the 'to-do' list can become the strategy and quickly become overwhelming for any single organization, stretching staff and resources thin and placing our impact…

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My Reflections on Evaluation of Place-based Grantmaking Strategies and Initiatives

By |2025-04-30T19:36:56-04:00April 28, 2025|Organizational Effectiveness|

Explore 30 years of lessons from evaluating place-based grantmaking initiatives. Learn about core challenges, emerging trends, and how funders, evaluators, and communities can better work together for sustainable change.

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