Abstract:
The Chicago-based Steans Family Foundation decides, in 1995, to depart from its historic focus on aiding individual, needy Chicago public school students. Frustrated by the persistent perils in neighborhoods in which such beneficiaries of their philanthropy have lived, the foundation decides to focus its energies on the wide-ranging improvement of the entirety of one of Chicago's worst neighborhoods--the North Lawndale district of the city's near West Side. After more than two yeas of effort, family members are, in many ways, pleased--with their range of neighborhood contacts, and with the fact that other funders have followed their lead. Nonetheless, they wonder how they should decide how to decide when or whether their efforts have been successful.
Learning Objective:
This evaluation case, applied to a family philanthropy context, raises questions about both the goals of neighborhood renewal and the methods of measuring results.
