To many, nonprofits evaluation is a boring, time-consuming, and useless part of the funding process. But Mark Kramer says we’re on the cusp of a new era. Thinking about the evaluation process as a means to make organizations truly more effective results in an entirely new set of actions, steps, and outcomes.

Kramer, founder of FSG Social Impact Advisors, explores different approaches to evaluation to improve planning, implementation, and operations, as well as track progress on the social issues an organization is trying to affect. He shares specific examples of nonprofits that have turned evaluations into opportunities for synergy and creativity with nonprofit executives gathered for the 2008 Nonprofit Management Institute, an event convened by the Center for Social Innovation's award winning magazine, the Stanford Social Innovation Review.