Recent Reports
Books
Articles/Monographs
Recent Reports
Great Communities Collaborative, 2011
(Great Communities Collaborative, 2011)
The Great Communities Collaborative (GCC) was formed in 2006 to work towards a future where mixed-income transit-oriented communities would become prevalent in the Bay Area.
In its first five years the GCC has helped 25 communities work with their local governments to complete station area plans. As a result of its successes, Bay Area agencies have
tripled their financial commitments to support planning processes that focus on transit-oriented development. GCC was also instrumental in the creation of the
Bay Area Transit-Oriented Housing Fund, now capitalized at $50 million. Given this significant track record and the growing need for transit-oriented development, the two community
foundations and five nonprofit organizations that constitute the collaborative decided to carry out a strategic planning process. Teamworks designed the planning process and facilitated
the seven organizations in creating the GCC's new five-year strategic plan.
Read the Great Communities Collaborative Strategic Plan Summary
Read the Great Communities Collaborative Complete Strategic Plan
Mexico Community Foundations: A Comprehensive Profile
(C.S. Mott Foundation, Ford Foundation, Inter-American Foundation and the Global Fund for Community Foundations, 2009)
Community foundations began emerging as philanthropic institutions in Mexico less than two decades ago.
As Mexican civil society flourished, many leaders with strategic vision realized that institutions needed to be created
in order to effectively gather and channel local resources to various social development initiatives.
This report is a comprehensive study of Mexico’s community foundations, the purpose of which is to provide a detailed picture of their organizational,
financial, and programmatic characteristics, ascertain how they meet their own institutional development needs,
and identify the obstacles they face in fulfilling their goals. The report is based on extensive research that included interviews,
site visits, and analysis of financial data. It was prepared by a bi-national collaboration,
joining Teamworks (San Francisco) and Alternativas y Capacidades (Mexico City).
Read the Complete Report in English
Read the Summary Report in English
Read the Complete Report in Spanish
Read the Summary Report in Spanish
U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership: Final Evaluation
(Ford Foundation, Inter-American Foundation, C.S. Mott Foundation, and others.)
The Border Philanthrophy Partnership was initiated in 2002 by a group of funders from the U.S. and Mexico who shared
the goal of fostering philanthropy through building the capacity of community foundations.
The longer term goal is to strengthen the civil sector along the border and address dire poverty.
The final report looks at the progress made by the roughly 20 community foundations participating in the project. In 2008 BPP became an independent bi-national organization.
Read the Complete Final Evaluation Report in English
Read the Executive Summary in English
Read the Complete Final Evaluation Report in Spanish
Read the Executive Summary in Spanish
Evaluation of a Comprehensive Community Initiative: Assessing Strategy and Impacts
(William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, 2005) This is a report of the fourth
year of a six-year comprehensive community initiative targeted to a low-income
area in East Palo Alto (EPA), California. The evaluation focuses on (1)
the alignment of the stated theory of change with actions taken, (2) the
critical competency of strategic networking to build partnerships, and
(3) progress achieving outcomes. EPA is a small city lying within Silicon
Valley, but has not been able to benefit from its location. It has undergone
rapid demographic change from majority African American to a majority
Latino population. The evaluation uses a combination of qualitative and
quantitative techniques and introduces a research instrument to assess
strategic networks.
Read the Evaluation
Final Report of the West Oakland Neighborhood Improvement Initiative
(William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, 2003) West Oakland was one of three
sites for the Hewlett Foundation's Neighborhood Improvement Initiative,
a multiyear effort to address conditions in a lower income areas. West
Oakland has been the beneficiary of government and foundation largesse
and numerous studies to assess why impacts have fallen short of expectations.
This site had a troubled course in Hewlett's initiative and this report
documents what happened, what failed to occur, why, and the lessons learned
from the experience.
Read the Final Report
Community Foundation Initiative on
Management Assistance, Phase I Evaluation
(David and Lucile Packard Foundation, 1999) This report documents the
early implementation experiences of eight Northern California community
foundations participating in the Community Foundation Initiative on Management
Assistance, a program designed to assist the community foundations to
address the management needs of nonprofit organizations in their local
communities. Read the Phase I Report
An Evaluation of the Minneapolis
Neighborhood Revitalization Program: The First Decade (Neighborhood
Revitalization Policy Board, McKnight Foundation, Minneapolis Foundation,
2000) This report evaluates the NRP's ability to fulfill its founding
goals of building neighborhood capacity, creating a sense of community,
enhancing inter-governmental cooperation, and informing government policy
by voicing neighborhood priorities. Over 10 studies were conducted including
a random telephone sample of residents in 1,100 Minneapolis homes about
the neighborhoods in which they live. http://www.nrp.org/R2/News/NewsArch/2000/20000623.html
Community Foundation Initiative on
Management Assistance, Phase II Evaluation
(David and Lucile Packard Foundation, 2001) This report further documents
the implementation experiences of eight Northern California community
foundations participating in the Community Foundation Initiative on Management
Assistance, a program designed to assist the community foundations to
address the management needs of nonprofit organizations in their local
communities. Read the Phase II Report
Strategic Planning: A Review of Grantee
Practices
(David and Lucile Packard Foundation, 2002). This report is an analysis
of a set of grants awarded by the Foundation to nonprofit organizations
to conduct strategic planning. Read the Strategic Planning Review
Durable Community Development Corporations
(Local Initiatives Support Corporation of the San Francisco Bay Area,
2003). This paper discusses the critical issue of sustainability planning,
drawing upon experiences of community development corporations.
http://www.bayarealisc.org/bay_area/resources/publications_5474/conference_5475.pdf
Customer Service Survey Findings
(The San Francisco Foundation, 2004). This summary reviews the findings
of one of the most comprehensive customer service surveys undertaken in
the field of philanthropy.
Read the
Report
Books
E.B. Knauft, Renee Berger,
and Sandra T. Gray, Profiles of Excellence: Achieving Success in the Nonprofit
Sector (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers) 1991
This book explores the inner workings of ten organizations to explain
the factors that contribute to organizational effectiveness. (NOTE: Out
of print though limited availability through Amazon)
Fosler, R. Scott, and Renee
A. Berger (ed.) Public-Private Partnership in American Cities: Seven Case
Studies (Lexington Books: MA) 1982.
This book is often credited as the seminal study of public-private sector
partnerships and continues to be used in universities in the U.S. and
abroad in urban planning and corporate responsibility courses.
(NOTE: Out of print though limited availability through Amazon)
Articles/Monographs
Renee Berger, "People, Power,
Politics: An Assessment of the Federal Empowerment Zones" Planning,
Vol.63: no. 2 (American Planning Association: Chicago, Illinois) Fall
1997.
Renee Berger and Gabriel
Kasper, "An Overview of the Literature on Community Development Corporations,"
Nonprofit Management and Leadership, vol. 4, no. 2 Winter l993
(Jossey-Bass, Inc.: San Francisco).
Renee Berger (with Carol Steinbach) A
Place in the Marketplace: Making Capitalism Work in Poor Communities
(Washington, DC.: National Congress for Community Economic Development)
1992
Mitchell (Mike) Sviridoff
and Renee Berger, "Corporate Leadership and the Public Weal," in Executive
Talent ed. Eli Ginzberg, (John Wiley and Sons: New York) l988.
Renee Berger, "Unfinished
Agenda: A Critique of Government and Business and Their Social Involvement
in the '80s," in Making Community Relations Pay Off: Tools and Strategies
(Public Affairs Council: Washington, D.C.) 1988.
Renee Berger, "Private Sector
Initiatives in the Reagan Era: New Actors Rework an Old Theme," in The
Reagan Presidency and the Governing of America (reissued in l986
by the Academy of Political Science in conjunction with the New York City
Partnership)
Renee Berger, "Technology, Innovation
and Regional Economic Development: Encouraging High-Technology Development,"
Background Report #2 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Congress Office of Technology
Assessment OTA-BP-STI-25) February l984
Renee Berger, "Building
Community Partnerships: Vision, Cooperation, Leadership" in the National
Civic Review Vol 72 No. 5 May l983
Astrid E. Merget and Renee
Berger "Equity as a Decision Rule in Local Services," in Richard Rich,
Analyzing Urban Service Distributions (Lexington, MA) 1982
R. Scott Fosler and Renee Berger, Public-Private
Partnership: An Opportunity for Urban Communities (Committee for
Economic Development: Washington D.C.) l982
Renee Berger (et al) Investing in America:
Initiatives for Community and Economic Development (Presidentís Task
Force on Private Sector Initiatives: Washington:DC) l982
Renee Berger and R. Scott
Fosler, "Public-Private Partnership: The British Experience" Urban
Innovation Abroad (Washington, D.C.: Council for International Urban
Liaison) November l982
|