In 2012 Donors Forum partnered with the Sara Lee Foundation* to provide capacity building services to their grantees. The project began in Phase I organizational assessments of all their grantees who provide hunger-fighting services. The results indicated that the organizations, while doing great work in the community, often struggled with evaluating their programs. As a result, Phase II of the program was launched with a four-month long program focused on enhancing the organizations' internal program evaluation skills.  

Matt Pakula, Senior Manager of Communications and Corporate Contributions at The Hillshire Brands Company and Director of the Hillshire Brands Foundation, visited with Donors Forum on the final day of the program and discussed the challenges of measuring impact when fighting hunger and how the organizations could better work together. In the following Q & A he talks about why his company decided to support nonprofits' capacity through this program and the challenges of evaluation. 

Donors Forum: What have you heard from your grantees about their experience with Well Led, Well Fed?

Matt Pakula: The grantees that participated said it was a valuable opportunity to get together with other similar organizations and to learn from each other and the program.

DF: Were you surprised by the findings of the assessment Donors Forum conducted for Phase II of the program? Based on the assessment, the training ended up being a program evaluation — is that a skill set you suspected was not present in your grantees?

MP: I think we all struggle with program evaluation in one way or another, so I guess I'm not surprised. One of the benefits of the assessment was that we could tailor the training to have the most impact with our grantees. It's much more satisfying to have helped fill a need, since we want them to be their best at what they do, and program evaluation certainly helps make that possible.

DF: Do you think this project is one that benefited the company's philanthropy efforts?

MP: Yes. One of our ongoing goals is to help build capacity. And, we're considering more general operating grants as a result of this project.

DF: What words of wisdom about program evaluation do you have for nonprofits?

MP: Program evaluation can be hard because it inherently means someone will be making a value judgment. It's a challenge because there is almost always room for improvement, too. If evaluation is ingrained and seen as an opportunity to adjust to dynamic human and program needs, it can be invigorating for both the funder and the grantee.

DF: As a grantmaker, what did you take away from this project?

MP: I learn something new each time I talk with a grantee. At the time, I was new to my role, so it was very helpful to meet our grantees, see what the challenges were and start to understand what funding needs they had. In addition, the project helped me see how some of our grantees — while appearing to be filling the same need — were really complementing each other's efforts.

DF: Would you recommend a program like this — training a cohort of grantees based on their particular needs — to other funders?

MP: Yes; it's extremely helpful to bring the grantees together and to share in the development of their organizations in this way.

DF: Any additional thoughts you'd like to share?

MP: While the Sara Lee Corporation and the Sara Lee Foundation no longer exist, we are now knows as Hillshire Brands and have recently re-activated  a corporate foundation. The Hillshire Brands Foundation's focus on organizations working to alleviate hunger is stronger than ever, and both company and foundation are as engaged as ever in helping to fulfill the hunger for a life well fed!

* Sara Lee Corporation spun off its international coffee and tea division in June 2012.  The remaining divisions of the company were then renamed The Hillshire Brands Company. Hillshire Brands is committed to continuing Sara Lee Corporation’s legacy as a superior corporate citizen. It is also committed to supporting the communities where its employees live and work through volunteerism, financial contributions, product donations and strategic partnerships.  Its efforts are concentrated on metropolitan Chicago and Hillshire Brands’ facility locations around the country.