Working with Philantrophies

We bring deep cross-cutting expertise in supporting a wide range of philanthropic partners. With a strong understanding of the philanthropic landscape, we help foundation leaders generate timely, actionable insights to guide learning, reflection, and strategy development.

Our capabilities lie in strategy review, evaluation, research, data analytics and the design of fit-for-purpose monitoring systems. We support foundations in making sense of complex challenges, learning from diverse stakeholder perspectives, and tracking progress in real time to adapt their strategies and improve partner engagement. We have extensive experience working with funders to monitor and evaluate grant portfolios against clearly defined success metrics, generating meaningful insights into effectiveness, efficiency, and impact. We also support the design and implementation of intentional, inclusive learning strategies that are aligned with each foundation’s mission and ways of working.

What we offer:

  • Strategic guidance on how to leverage evidence for effective planning and decision-making
  • Design of systems, tools, and approaches for intentional organisational learning
  • Facilitation of theory of change development and co-creation workshops
  • Development and review of learning frameworks to enable continuous reflection and improvement, including systems and tools, indicator design (quantitative and qualitative), baselines, progress markers, targets, and risk assessment
  • Digital solutions and real-time dashboards for tracking and communicating progress towards impacts and key indicators
  • Training and tailored support in a range of approaches, including Impact Measurement and Management (IMM), Results based management (RBM), Outcome Mapping and Outcome Harvesting, and more
  • Establishment and facilitation of Communities of Practice (CoP) to enable peer learning around shared learning agenda with grantee partners and funders

Our recent work in philanthropy includes support for participatory grant making, trust-based philanthropy and impact investing. We aim to deliver support that is ambitious yet pragmatic – grounded in contextual, honest reflection, and a commitment to measurable meaningful change. Learning is at the heart of our approach. We see evaluation as one of many tools to support decision-making – not a punitive tool. We prioritize inclusivity by fostering collaboration, embracing diverse perspectives, and sharing insights widely, with cultural competence at the core.

NIRAS has worked closely with the following foundations: Mastercard Foundation, Ford Foundation, Gates Foundation, Climate Breakthrough, Gatsby Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Quadrature Climate Foundation, Dubai Cares, Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, African Climate Foundation, Bosch Foundation, Henrich Böll Foundation, etc.

A developmental evaluation to test Gates Foundation’s SAGE model on gender integration

Since 2024, the developmental evaluation of the Sustaining Action for Gender Equality (SAGE) initiative aims to generate actionable insights and deepen Gates Foundation’s understanding of how gender mainstreaming can drive gender equality outcomes and amplify impact. Using a developmental evaluation approach, NIRAS is in the process of co-designing an evaluation that will help SAGE partners strengthen their strategies, inspire innovation, and enhance the effects of gender mainstreaming efforts during the grant period (2024-2028). In addition, our team provides capacity building through a MEL Clinic offering diagnostic assessments, tailored mentoring, coaching and tools to strengthen partners’ monitoring systems and enhance gender-responsive programming. Our innovative, iterative and real-time approach supports adaptive learning for partner organisations and program officers at the Gates Foundation.

MEL systems and digital solutions for a global clean energy initiative led by a group of foundations

Since 2022, NIRAS has been the MEL partner of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), an initiative jointly funded by Rockefeller Foundation, IKEA Foundation, and Bezos Earth Fund. GEAPP aims to support developing countries’ shift to clean energy, using a pro-growth model with long-term goals to reduce carbon emissions, increase access to energy, improve jobs and livelihoods, and mobilise climate finance. As a critical friend of this fast-growing initiative, NIRAS provides thought leadership and collaborative inputs to help GEAPP establish and improve key methodologies, such as the process for setting country impact targets, and has provided on-demand support to key stakeholders (including board members and country teams).

To support GEAPP in better communicating its impact, our in-house digital solutions specialist designed a bespoke MIS dashboard to collect and publish aggregable indicators relevant to GEAPP’s long-term impacts in real time. We have also developed a comprehensive approach to capture GEAPP’s contribution to systemic change within the global energy system, ensuring that the impact measurement system covers the diverse set of interventions within the GEAPP portfolio and ensure a cohesive approach across all workstreams and geographies.

A long-term participatory and developmental evaluation of the Ford Foundation’s BUILD model (2018-2025)

The Building Institutions and Networks (BUILD) initiative was a five-year, USD 1 billion investment in the long-term capacity and sustainability of 350 social justice and civil society organisations around the world, working on advancing civic engagement, freedom of expression, gender and racial justice, disability rights, natural resources and climate change, digital governance and equal access to technology. NIRAS conducted a developmental evaluation of the BUILD model, covering grantees in the US and Global South. With a participatory, iterative and adaptive design, the evaluation was able to flexibly respond to the changing contextual environment and the emerging findings. Employing a mixed-method approach, the evaluation placed a strong emphasis on strategic communication to build understanding, evidence, and influence. The evaluation met both accountability and learning objectives, providing real-time feedback to inform programme adjustments, surfacing emerging issues as well as longitudinal impacts, and informed the next phase of BUILD.

A second six-year phase of the BUILD initiative began in 2022, including a longitudinal study led by NIRAS to assess the long-term impact of BUILD on organisational and financial resilience, particularly beyond the first five-year phase. The study also explored how partners, with or without continued BUILD support, sustained impact and pursued social justice goals over time. Grounded in a utilisation-focused approach and the Equitable Evaluation Framework™ (EEF), the study was co-designed through six convenings with partners, the philanthropic community, and Ford Foundation staff. It generated practical learning for grantees, the Foundation, and the wider philanthropic field, and explored whether, how, and to what extent BUILD enhanced partner resilience and effectiveness.

Supporting the forestry legislative reform process in Kenya with the Gatsby Foundation

Commissioned by the Gatsby Foundation, the NIRAS forestry team supported the development of Kenya’s commercial forestry sub-sector. First, we identified key issues and challenges along the commercial forestry value chain and recommended policy interventions to support sector growth. The team reviewed the Draft National Forest Policy and Forest Conservation and Management Act (FCMA) from 2016, highlighting gaps and opportunities to better integrate commercial forestry. We also examined best practices from other African countries to inform the process. The assignment culminated in a detailed Technical Policy Report, which included national and county-level policy recommendations to strengthen commercial forestry within government forests, drawing on best practices and recent policy analysis.

Supporting transformation: Evaluating the role and relevance of the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation

NIRAS recently completed an independent evaluation of the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, an organisation committed to advancing sustainable development, peace, and multilateral cooperation in line with the principles of the UN Charter. Commissioned by the Foundation, the evaluation covered the 2022–2025 period and focused on its three core programme areas—Sustaining Peace, UN Financing, and UN Leadership—alongside its cross-cutting legacy and multilateralism support functions. The evaluation offered forward-looking insights and actionable recommendations to inform the Foundation’s next Strategic Framework (2026–2029), and supported internal learning and strategic dialogue with key partners, including Sweden’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The evaluation placed special emphasis on the Foundation’s catalytic role in shaping multilateral discourse through its six strategic pathways: quiet diplomacy, thought leadership, normative influence, knowledge brokering, evidence production, and convening power. The client praised the NIRAS team for its “capacity, skills, and sharp communication,” noting that “we were particularly struck by NIRAS’ ability to, with such limited time and resources, gather empirical evidence and analyse the Foundation in such a profound and useful way.” The evaluation was described as “a significant learning opportunity” and “a much-needed remedy” for challenges in institutional memory, affirming NIRAS’ role as a trusted partner in strategic evaluation and organisational learning.

Documenting progress and improving performance under the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF)’s Renewable Energy Portfolio

Over a four-and-a-half-year period (2018-2023), NIRAS conducted a meta-evaluation of CIFF’s Renewable Energy Portfolio, which included eight investments across five geographies (China, India, Southeast Asia, Mexico and Brazil). These investments aimed to influence climate and energy policy in middle-income countries through technical assistance and civil society strengthening. Using a flexible, adaptive approach, NIRAS ensured the evaluation stayed responsive to the portfolio’s complexity and evolution. The work included strategic MEL support and collaboration with grantees and program staff to gather evidence and inform performance improvements. The assignment produced a range of deliverables, including two portfolio level synthesis reports, deep-dive investment reviews, light-touch case studies, social network analysis, thematic synthesis reports, and communications and learning materials.

Supporting Gender Justice with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Africa

We were commissioned by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) to evaluate its gender justice work across Africa since 2017. In recent years, FES has taken several strategic and organisational steps to strengthen its commitment in this field. These include the adoption of a new gender strategy within the International Cooperation department and the establishment of a Gender Justice and Transformation Competence Center in Mozambique.

The evaluation served two key purposes. First, it assessed FES’s work—particularly the developments since 2017—against the OECD-DAC criteria, with a focus on relevance and effectiveness. Special attention was given to the period from 2021 to 2024. Second, it aimed to derive lessons learned and formulate recommendations to inform the next phase of project planning, set to begin in spring 2025.

Our approach combined an adapted contribution analysis with a Theory of Change framework. Fieldwork included case studies in Cameroon, Mozambique, Namibia, and Uganda.

Analysing structures and processes in the Konrad Adenauer Foundation’s multilateralism work

On behalf of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, we carried out a structure and process analysis of the foundation’s cross-location project coordination in the field of multilateralism. The goal was to refine the foundation’s strategic approach to multilateralism and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of collaboration across various programme locations.

To achieve this, we examined the processes, organisational structures, capacities, and objectives of key actors working in this thematic area—both at headquarters and across relevant programme sites. We also conducted an analysis of the networks and interfaces shaping the foundation’s work in multilateralism.

The analysis followed an iterative, participatory process that engaged a wide range of stakeholders throughout.