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Program Design and Evaluation |
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| A multi-year grant
program to help develop private landowner incentives for biodiversity
conservation. Over two-thirds of US land is privately owned, primarily by farmers. Most of these lands are managed for the bottom line, while environmental objectives, including biodiversity conservation, are routinely ignored. Incentive-based payments to landowners is an increasingly effective means of protecting vast amounts of biodiversity. CCIF worked with the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to design a $5 million grant program to expand the use of such incentives and to leverage available federal and state funds. This work involved the evaluation of past and current incentive models, barriers to success, prospects for national scalability, and financial leverage opportunities. It also involved the design of the grant program and grant selection process. Read Opportunities for Philanthropic Investors in Biodiversity Conservation Incentive Systems, 2002 |
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A partnership between venture capitalists and conservation funders
to assemble a portfolio of highly effective grant/equity investments. Philanthropic foundations and venture capital (VC) firms, for all their differences, share the goal of creating disproportionate returns on their investments. Foundations have become interested in the VC model and some are intrigued by the prospect of developing world-class programmatic-related investment (PRI) capability, others are finding that their program goals require investments in for-profit, entrepreneurial activities, and others seek ways to apply the speed, rigor, and flexibility of the VC model to the foundation context. CCIF collaborated with the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to investigate potential ways to bring together the best features of both worlds. In interviews with Silicon Valley’s leading venture capitalists, a number of models were developed which would allow foundations to establish VC delivery capability within the organizational and structural constraints of a typical Foundation. Application of a rigorous set of selection criteria yielded a ‘favorite’ model which is simple, effective and easily integrated into both operating environments. Read From Donor to Investor: Applying a Venture Capital Model to Foundations, 2002 |
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| Evaluation/design
of environmental certification systems. In recent years, a significant number of NGOs and industry associations have created private standard-setting bodies that officially recognize companies operating within an environmentally and/or socially beneficial framework. These certification programs aim to provide a creative, market-based solution for specific environmental and social problems. The outcome of certification schemes to date have varied greatly—their performance history covers the spectrum from great success to failure. When asked to support proposed or existing certification efforts, Foundations must evaluate a complex set of variables in order to predict this success or failure. A CCIF study aimed to provide private foundations with a pragmatic decision framework for the future support of environmental certification efforts. The study is not an exhaustive evaluation of existing certification schemes, but an attempt to combine the current lessons learned into a set of best practices for the funders and designers of environmental certification efforts. Read Analysis of the Status of Current Certification Schemes in Promoting Conservation, 2002 |
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