Industry norms for evaluation in philanthropy barely exist; various approaches abound. Since the late 1990's, calls for evaluation in philanthropy have ignited a frenzy of activity. Theory driven approaches to evaluating complex social change efforts, dashboards and performance metrics, and grantee perception studies have been launched. Some foundations with strong beliefs in technology's hope are investing in data systems to provide regular feedback for short and long-term horizons. Some examples of how each approach has contributed to social change exist. This presentation will pose reflections on the past decade of evaluation in philanthropy from an evaluator who has served in the evaluation function of three foundations based on the West coast. The panelist will consider why innovative approaches to evaluation, including evaluation of complex systems, compete for attention. A key role of philanthropy in society is to innovate. Looking forward, evaluators can anticipate evaluation approaches to continue to be claimed as innovative and shared in new settings.#SystemsinEvaluation #Non-ProfitsandFoundationsEvaluation #Research,Technology,andDevelopmentEval #innovation #foundation #EvaluationManagersandSupervisors #nonprofit #philanthropy #2009Conference