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For Funders | local.foundation

For funders

You fund the programs. Can you tell which ones work ?

We can measure venture funding to the euro and platform usage to the person. We still can't say whether a community program produced belonging, retention, or resilience — or how it compares to the twenty others you fund. That's the gap we close.

Evaluations €15,000–50,000 · 6–10 weeks · fixed price before work starts

Built on data from programs run with and alongside

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The problem

Impact reporting you can't actually compare

Most funders receive impact reports written by the programs they fund, in whatever shape each program chose, with no external reference point. The reports arrive. The question stays open.

01

Self-reported and unverified

The program grades its own homework. Nobody is checking the underlying participation data, because nobody else has it.

02

No peer set

A 62% completion rate is meaningless on its own. It only becomes information next to the median for comparable programs.

03

Every program counts differently

Jobs created, revenue growth, engagement — measured three ways in three reports, so the portfolio never adds up.

What you can commission

Three ways to work with us

Available now

Program evaluation

€15,000–50,000

per project · 6–10 weeks

An independent evaluation of one program or a portfolio, measured against comparable programs in our pool. Scoped to the questions your board, ministry, or funding body is actually asking.

  • Participation, retention, and progression analysis
  • Peer comparison against the benchmark pool
  • SCALE-compliant reporting output
  • Board- and ministry-ready written report
Scope an evaluation
Founding members forming

Research membership

€3,000–15,000

per year

An annual membership for funders, agencies, and corporates: continuous access to sector benchmarks, briefings on what the data is showing, and the convenings where the people running these programs compare notes.

  • Full benchmark suite for your sector or region
  • Policy and practice briefings
  • Custom data cuts on request
  • Invitations to closed convenings
Ask about membership
In development

Community-Health Index

Not yet priced

early access for evaluation clients

A network-based measure of community health — engagement centrality, retention curves, bridge density. Only a graph of real participation can produce it. We are validating it against program outcomes before we sell it as a score.

  • Per-program health score and subscores
  • Peer cuts by region, sector, and program type
  • Currently in validation — not yet a published metric
  • Early access included with evaluations
Follow the development

Prices are indicative. Evaluation scope drives cost: a single program over one cohort sits at the lower end; a multi-program portfolio with primary fieldwork sits at the upper end. We quote fixed price before any work starts.

How it works

From question to report in six to ten weeks

01

Scope the question

One call to establish what you need to answer and to whom. We come back with a fixed-price proposal and a timeline.

02

Connect the data

The program's existing records — attendance, cohort progression, forms, follow-up — are brought into one consistent shape. Under a data processing agreement, with the program's consent.

03

Measure against peers

Your program's participation and outcome data is analysed on its own and against comparable programs in the pool.

04

Deliver and defend

A written report, the underlying figures, and a session where we walk your board or committee through the findings — including what the data doesn't support.

What lands on your desk

Figures you can put in front of a ministry

The reporting standard is the one your own reporting obligations already use. We produce the evaluation; you own the output and the data behind it.

Revenue CAGR & ROTI

Jobs created & retained

Engagement & retention curves

Cohort progression analysis

Network & bridge density

Peer benchmark cuts

SCALE-compliant PDF export

The underlying dataset

Where the data comes from

The benchmark exists because programs chose to contribute

Community builders and program operators use our platform free of charge. In return, they can opt in to contribute de-identified data to the shared benchmark pool — and get back peer comparisons they could never build alone. That exchange is explicit, opt-in, and revocable. It is the reason the comparison set exists.

Opt-in, on the record

No program's data enters the pool without an explicit, recorded consent from that program. Consent can be withdrawn.

De-identified and aggregated

Personal data is stripped before anything reaches the benchmark. Comparison outputs are aggregate; no individual and no single program is identifiable in them.

Governed by agreement

Evaluations run under a data processing agreement with the program being evaluated, on a GDPR lawful basis established before any analysis begins.

0+ community members mapped across programs
0+ programs contributing to the benchmark pool
0 countries — Portugal, Germany, New Zealand

Start with one program

Tell us which program you fund and what you need to answer. We'll come back with a scope, a timeline, and a fixed price.

Prefer to read first? Start with the manifesto or follow the signals.