Impact Forum to focus on grantmaking’s toughest issues

Riley, who led the rollout of the Outcomes Engine system within SmartyGrants, said her work with SmartyGrants users, funders and grantseekers highlighted some of the barriers to effective impact measurement and evaluation.

SmartyGrants and Learning and Evaluation for Australian Funders (LEAF) – a network of philanthropic and other funding evaluation specialists – will host an all-day Grant Impact Forum on June 4 in Melbourne to examine these difficult issues.

Pacing of grant cycles causing problems

One key issue the forum will examine is how funders can use the impact intelligence they gather in a timely way.

Riley said most grantmakers launched new grant rounds before they had had time to absorb lessons from the previous ones.

“Generally, the impact measurement reports come in as much as two months after the next grant has already opened for applications, so how as a grant community should we deal with this?” she said.

Riley said the mismatch in the timing represented a significant “system issue” and resulted in a continual “loss of learning”.

Grantmakers weighed down by the burden of proof

Riley said another major challenge was determining the appropriate level of evidence for impact measurement and evaluation.

“What’s enough data?” Riley asked.

Grantmakers were seeking the “sweet spot” to avoid wasted time, wasted effort, wasted funds, and overburdening grantees. This was complicated by calls by federal government for greater use of randomised control trials (RCTs), which are widely considered the “gold standard” of evidence.

Getting honest answers can be tricky

Another major challenge for funders was encouraging grant recipients to provide honest assessments.

“How do you how build a trusting environment where grantees will tell you what's really going on, rather than them telling you that everything's going great?” Riley asked.

“There’s no point generating data that is full of bias.”

Dr Jess Dart, the founder of Clear Horizons and co-author of an evaluation guide translated into 12 languages, is part of the powerful lineup at the 2025 Grant Impact Forum (Wednesday, June 4).

UPDATE: The event is now sold out. Grants Management Intelligence will produce a special report about the event.

Dart will moderate a much-anticipated panel session involving fellow leading figures in the field, Patricia Rogers and Eleanor Williams. Williams is the managing director of the Australian Centre for Evaluation (ACE), while Rogers is a past Professor of Public Sector Evaluation at RMIT University and ANZSOG.

The session will seek to help funders better understand what counts as evidence and to translate those metrics into rigorous data.

Dart said she was excited to be hosting the panel with Rogers and Williams, and predicted that it “should be a ripper”.

“What is unique about this forum is that it is coming from the perspective of grantmakers, and this presents a great opportunity to enhance change making and to improve impact for people, place and planet.”

“Impact measurement is evolving rapidly, and funders play a critical role in shaping what good measurement looks like. Bringing funders, evaluators, and changemakers together in forums like this, is how we move from good intentions to real impact.”

“I think there is a great opportunity for grantmakers to engage differently with their partners and grantees around measurement and learning. In these challenging times, the role of measurement and collective learning cannot be understated.

“There are also new frontiers to explore together, such as how to evaluate systems-wide approaches, and to elevate measurement and learning up to more of a portfolio level.”

In a later session, Dart will guide grant evaluators in how to run an “annual reflection” with stakeholders to help them understand what works and what can be improved.

SmartyGrants and Learning and Evaluation for Australian Funders (LEAF) – a network of philanthropic and other funding evaluation specialists – will host the all-day event.

Forum co-convenor Jen Riley, the chief impact officer at SmartyGrants, said several intensive sessions would explore the many aspects of contemporary evaluation and impact measurement.

Riley said tickets for the face-to-face event, which will cater for a maximum of 100 participants, were selling fast to funders and practitioners interested in impact.

“We’ve already filled more than half the seats available, and I expect we’ll sell out at this rate.”

SmartyGrants gathers experts to seek solutions

Australia’s leading evaluators and impact measurement practitioners will present at the Grant Impact Forum, which will be limited to 100 participants and focused on “actionable insights” and problem solving.

“We’ve made this a face-to-face event because we want to help people to make a real difference in the way they evaluate and measure impact,” Riley said.

“This is not about passive listening or endless slides. We’re asking people to be part of the conversation and part of the solution.”

She said the forum came at a crucial time for funders under growing pressure to demonstrate their effectiveness. The event will feature practical strategies, case studies, and a chance to connect with grantmakers, funders and evaluation experts.

“Grantmakers are being asked about the impact of their investments, and about how the money is flowing into communities. This is about learning what works, so we can continue to ensure money being spent is making a difference.”

Speakers will include:

• Eleanor Williams, managing director of the Australian Centre for Evaluation (ACE)
• Patricia Rogers, former Professor of Public Sector Evaluation at RMIT University and ANZSOG
• Jess Dart, chief executive and founder of Clear Horizon
• Sandy Blackburn, founder and managing director of Social Outcomes
• Skye Trudgett, of Kowa impact measurement, a social enterprise focused on supporting First Nations people
• Jeremy Motbey, grants and impact manager at the Ecstra Foundation
• Monique O’Keefe, evaluation and impact practitioner from the City of Dandenong

While the program continues to be refined, experts participating in the event will include:

• Dr Paola Oliva-Altamirano, data science lead at SmartyGrants
• Sandy Blackburn, founder and managing director of Social Outcomes
• Simon Faivel, co-chair of the Social Impact Measurement Network Australia (SIMNA)
• Caroline Henwood, research and evaluation manager at the Ian Potter Foundation
• Monique O’Keeffe, evaluation and impact practitioner from the City of Greater Dandenong
• Jeremy Motbey, grants and impact manager at the Ecstra Foundation
• Rebecca Moriarty, Philanthropy Australia
• Rohan Martyres, Menzies Foundation
• Kate Randall, Community Broadcasting Foundation
• Ben Rodgers, CEO, Inner North Community Foundation
• Cynthia Scherer, Anthony Costa Foundation
• Dr Skye Trudgett, of Kowa impact measurement, a social enterprise focused on supporting First Nations people
• Bill Wallace, CEO of the Australian Evaluation Society

SmartyGrants hopes for broader evaluation approaches

The event represents the first partnership between SmartyGrants and the LEAF network, which has more than 100 members across the country. LEAF is part of Philanthropy Australia, and funded by the Paul Ramsay Foundation. The network is guided by program director Liz Branigan, who is working to build the evaluation capacity of philanthropic organisations.

Riley said connecting LEAF and SmartyGrants users made sense.

Branigan said participants could expect practical insights into navigating a complex environment.

“This workshop will start where the others end – with the hard conversations about implementation challenges and barriers,” Branigan said.

She said participants could expect to gain “immediate shifts in their practice” from the forum.

“Measurement, evaluation and learning (known as MEL) is becoming core to grantmaking and people really want to know how to do this well.”

She said the LEAF network’s focus was using evaluation “for learning and transformation” and building better relationships between funders, grantees, partners, and the communities they serve.

Ticket prices range from $400 to $600, depending on grant program size.

Riley said the aim of the event would be to give grantmakers solutions to their trickiest challenges, including understanding impact measurement programs and reports, using the best tools available, employing the right kinds and amount of evidence, and drawing on case studies.

“This event is squarely focused on sharing actionable insights and problem solving, and we think that doing this face-to-face will be more effective in explaining complex issues,” Riley said.

Ticket prices range from $400 to $600, depending on grant program size.

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