Grant Making Evaluation and Community Impact Assessment
Community Foundation for the Alleghenies
Economic Equity
The Community Foundation for the Alleghenies (CFA), a grantmaking public charity, is committed to improving the Greater Johnstown region in Pennsylvania. It manages donor investment funds to make philanthropic grants, distributing more than $6.1 million in 2019 and $58.5 million since its inception in 1990 (through 2019). The Richard King Mellon Foundation partnered with the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies to establish the Community Initiatives Fund (CIF). The CIF focuses on conservation, education, regional economic development, and, secondarily, human services.
Fourth Economy was engaged to complete an evaluation aimed to understand: 1) the impact of CIF grants on the community in these focus areas, including both tangible results (e.g., dollars invested) and intangible results (e.g., changes in civic engagement); and 2) the impact of CFA staff in supporting community transformation, such as providing capacity, leveraging R.K. Mellon investments, and serving as a community-wide resource.
Our Approach
Fourth Economy developed an evaluation framework to assess both the measurable impacts and the ways in which the CFA has contributed to community transformation. This included reviewing prior grant reports and related studies, surveying grantees to collect quantitative and qualitative data on the impacts of CIF projects, conducting a public survey to gauge perceptions about community changes, and conducting interviews and focus groups with grant recipients.
The Results
Our analysis found that the CFA has developed its donor and grantmaking portfolio, established strong partnerships, and grown during a period of transition for the region. It has served as a critical neutral convener, facilitating public-private collaboration to begin reinventing Johnstown as a vibrant city. The CFA team has adapted to various challenges and has worked in multiple capacities—as an initial convener, guide, seed funding source, and provider of ongoing support—as needed for different initiatives. The CIF has generated momentum to address these issues, but the CFA faces a critical pivot. The intrinsic social and economic challenges of blight, crime, and drug abuse will require even greater engagement, ingenuity, and capacity (of all kinds) to continue the progress that has begun.
Location
Johnstown, PA