Oak Foundation Governance Assessment Tool

By Adriana Craciun

September 28, 2016

This is a framework that can be applied during the due diligence process to gain an overview and understanding of the practices and processes of grantee governance bodies in order to assess their effectiveness.

This tool was created to provide structure and consistency to the due diligence process when evaluating grantee boards. It is meant to stimulate conversations between Programme Officers and their grantees about how to develop and maintain effective governing bodies, and to provide new POs with an overview of the considerations that Oak believes areimportant to effective governance. The tool is also a means of identifying potential areas where a foundation is able to offer capacity building services to support a grantee in its desire to develop their own governance structures or processes.

The tool can be used both for an initial due diligence process and also throughout a grant’s life to provide an overview of how a grantee’s governance is developing or evolving over time.

Adriana Craciun is the Senior Adviser for Organisational Development and Capacity Building at Oak Foundation. Her role is to shape the capacity building strategies which are consistent with Oak`s culture and programmes, to support the programme staff in assessing the grantees` readiness for capacity building, including conducting capacity assessments of potential or existing grantees and to design appropriate interventions.