From Grant Making to Change Making: How the W. K. Kellogg Foundation’s Impact Services Model Evolved to Enhance the Management and Social Effects of Large Initiatives

Abstract

During the past decade, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation’s impact services model has evolved to allow program directors managing large, social change initiatives to draw on the expertise of new team members offering crucial support services. These impact services include social marketing and communications, evaluation, public policy, technology, and organizational learning. Expert consultation in other areas may also be sought as needed by the management team. This article traces the evolution of the impact services model, explores the effects of impact services supported program management on both the foundation and its grantees, and offers an account of how the model was applied in the case of Families For Kids, a $42 million initiative aimed at stimulating reform in adoption and foster care systems across the nation.