How does the Performance Imperative and the Performance Imperative Organizational Self-Assessment help grantmakers better serve grantees? Take the example of the Einhorn Family Charitable Trust.

Instead of asking grantees to submit a typical, compliance-driven end-of-year report, Einhorn Family Charitable Trust instead shares a grant reporting framework that helps grantees use the PI and PIOSA to “assess progress, check assumptions, and recalibrate as necessary based on what you’ve learned over the previous period.”

Consistent with its emphasis on continuous improvement, EFCT also asks grantees for candid feedback on the utility of the reporting process.

The PI and PIOSA are also integrated into EFCT’s own Portfolio Dashboard, the centerpiece of the staff’s progress reports to its trustees. In addition to understanding how each grantee partner is progressing with respect to each of the PI’s seven pillars, the trustees can also look across the entire portfolio to identify patterns.

For example, the current dashboard shows that EFCT grantee partners are generally doing well with regard to “Well-designed and well-implemented programs and strategies” and “A culture that values learning” but having more difficulty with “Financial health and sustainability” and External evaluation for mission effectiveness.”

EFCT doesn’t penalize grantee partners when they’re coming up short. Quite the opposite: It’s giving grantee partners extra support, through top experts in the field, to shore up any shaky pillars.

Read the full article on Performance Imperative from LEAP Ambassadors at National Center for Family Philanthropy

To read more by NCFP, check out their Family Philanthropy magazine on Giving Compass.