The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation identifies high-performing youth-serving organizations with effective programs and growth potential and invests in developing their capacity to expand and achieve sustainability. The Foundation broadens its search for such organizations by consulting experts in youth development, other foundations and nonprofits, and local groups. 

After determining that an organization has achieved sufficient scale in both the number of youth it serves and the size of its budget to be likely to benefit from the Foundation’s grantmaking approach, staff use six criteria to begin assessing whether it is a promising investment.

• Compelling Product - Does the organization have empirical evidence of its program or service’s impact on youth? This is assessed using a three-stage scale developed by the Foundation.
• Strong Leadership and Management – Do the staff and board have a track record of achieving the organization’s objectives, and do they have a vision of future growth?
• Commitment to Evaluation – Is the organization measuring its performance and intent on evaluating and improving its outcomes?

• Financial Viability - Are the organization's finances sound?
• Operational Viability - Does the organization have the capacity to increase the number of youth it serves? 
• Compatibility - Is the organization a good “fit” with EMCF’s investment strategy?

Organizations that seem likely fits for the Foundation’s grantmaking approach are added to the pool from which the Foundation selects candidates for an intensive assessment process called Due Diligence. Organizations in this phase will first receive a document request for materials to share with EMCF. During this period, the Foundation spends hundreds of staff hours interviewing an organization’s staff, board members, funders, recipients of its services, and experts in the field, conducting site visits, and analyzing the potential grantee’s program models and organizational capacity. 

When EMCF conducted due diligence on 25 candidates for Social Innovation Fund (SIF) awards from December 2010 to March 2011, it received invaluable assistance from MDRC and the Bridgespan Group, the Foundation’s strategic collaborators in the SIF. 

The information gathered during due diligence provides EMCF with a robust picture of an organization’s overall organizational capacity, including the efficacy of its programs and its ability to manage performance, the strength of its leadership team and financial standing, and the quality of its evidence base and plans to further evaluate impact.