Talking Philanthropy hosts Larry Blumenthal and Bill Silberg talked to Phil Buchanan, president of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, about the current state of foundation assessment.

Joe Winter from C4 Atlanta interviews Adam Natale, Director of Partnerships and Business Development with Fractured Atlas, about the programs "The Artist’s Survival Guide" and “Why Arts Organizations Should Collect Data”, presented during Funding for Arts Month at the Foundation Center-Atlanta.

Jim Rosenberg, Vice President, National Arts Strategies, www.artstrategies.org urges arts organizations struggling with uncertainty to ask themselves three simple questions: who is your customer? What value do you deliver to them? And, what financial support can you realistically expect from them?

Courtney Bourns, Director of Programs at Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO), discusses Evaluation in Philanthropy: Perspectives from the Field, a report that examines grantmakers' approaches to evaluation. The Dec. 2009 report co-produced with the Council on Foundations includes case studies.

Co-founder and partner Ann M. Duffett and president Steve Farkas of The Farkas Duffett Research Group (FDR Group) offer conceptual and practical steps to evaluate your organization and programs. They demystify the language of evaluation by explaining the different types of research tools that can inform decision-making, the difference between quantitative and qualitative research, and how to organize focus groups and surveys in order to elicit useful feedback.