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Abstract

Almost a decade after its 1980 founding, the New York-based Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) had become one of the leading financial institutions aiding non-profit community groups in their quests to improve conditions in inner-city neighborhoods. Financed both by foundation grants and corporation donations, LISC, in turn, made grants and loans to community groups for specific projects (generally housing construction and renovation). As the organization looked ahead, however, LISC officials faced the challenge of evaluating its work. What yardsticks for success should it adopt in its nonprofit setting? How should it judge whether or not community groups had been successful? How could it guard against financial mistakes in a business which, by definition, was directing capital in places the market, left to its own devices, would bypass? LISC''s ability to retain the confidence of its funders, and to maintain its position as a pillar of the "social finance" movement, hinged on its evaluation approach. This case, designed to prompt reflection on evaluation in a non-profit setting, was developed for the World Bank as a domestic analogue to the work of international development aid organizations. The case includes extensive internal assessment/evaluation forms provided by LISC.

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Abstract

Almost a decade after its 1980 founding, the New York-based Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) had become one of the leading financial institutions aiding non-profit community groups in their quests to improve conditions in inner-city neighborhoods. Financed both by foundation grants and corporation donations, LISC, in turn, made grants and loans to community groups for specific projects (generally housing construction and renovation). As the organization looked ahead, however, LISC officials faced the challenge of evaluating its work. What yardsticks for success should it adopt in its nonprofit setting? How should it judge whether or not community groups had been successful? How could it guard against financial mistakes in a business which, by definition, was directing capital in places the market, left to its own devices, would bypass? LISC''s ability to retain the confidence of its funders, and to maintain its position as a pillar of the "social finance" movement, hinged on its evaluation approach. This case, designed to prompt reflection on evaluation in a non-profit setting, was developed for the World Bank as a domestic analogue to the work of international development aid organizations. The case includes extensive internal assessment/evaluation forms provided by LISC.

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