Designing & Implementing a MEL Framework for a Donor Collaborative

📍 Client: Families & Workers Fund (FWF)
📍 Location: National (U.S.)
📍 Duration: 2024-Present

The Challenge

With $110 million from 40 funders, the Families & Workers Fund (FWF) is one of the largest and most diverse funder collaboratives focused on economic equity and workforce transformation. However, measuring impact at both the fund-wide and programmatic levels—while balancing the needs of multiple donors—required a sophisticated and adaptive MEL approach that could capture systems change over time.

Our Approach

I2I partnered with FWF to design and implement a comprehensive Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) framework that:
✔ Develops an overarching Theory of Change (ToC) for the fund and its core programmatic initiatives
✔ Redesigns grantee reporting systems to capture meaningful progress without overburdening partners
✔ Collects and analyzes mixed-methods data (qualitative + quantitative) to track long-term impact
✔ Facilitates learning among philanthropic partners, ensuring insights inform strategy and future investments

The Impact

🚀 Established a unified impact measurement approach, aligning diverse funders and grantees
📊 Strengthened grantee reporting, making it more useful for learning while reducing administrative burden
💡 Enhanced funder collaboration, creating shared learning opportunities across the $110M portfolio
🔄 Built an adaptive framework, ensuring MEL evolves alongside the Fund’s strategic priorities

🎯 What Makes This Different?
I2I’s systems-change lens ensures that FWF’s MEL framework not only tracks outcomes but also captures how investments shift power, policies, and economic systems over time.