8 Bridges is documenting and evaluating the impact of the Gifford Foundation’s program, ADVANS (Advancing and Developing the Value and Assets of Nonprofits in Syracuse). 8 Bridges will conduct interviews and site visits, review program documents, and develop case studies, with a final report designed to build an understanding of how the program has served and strengthened key nonprofits in the greater Syracuse region.

The Wyncote Foundation just released our report, Building Stronger Communities Through Media; Innovations in Local Journalism, Public Media, and Storytelling. The report profiles nine media innovators making a difference in their local communities with local support.

8 Bridges Workshop is supporting the launch of this new independent foundation that will serve the Greater Philadelphia region. IPMF was formed with the proceeds from the FCC’s spectrum auction, whereby WYBE Channel 35 successfully raised $131 million. The new foundation will support the independent media, community expression, and the ecosystem of media makers in the region.

8 Bridges worked with the McKnight Foundation’s communications staff and program directors team to understand how program areas approach media and strategic communications and to identify and propose a learning agenda for the team, in part based on similar work among comparable place-based foundations in the U.S.

In 2016, we worked with the foundation’s Detroit Program to conduct a formative evaluation of the Kresge Artists In Detroit program at its 10-year point. The evaluation encompassed the Kresge Artist Fellowships program, Creative Many’s professional practices program, and ArtX: Detroit, a festival featuring Kresge Fellows’ work. We wrote the final report detailing our findings.

We prepared a background paper suggesting approaches and offering examples as background for a board discussion about whether and how the foundation might add operating support grants to its portfolio.

Wyncote commissioned our research into digital innovation in legacy cultural institutions. We created Like, Link, Share: How cultural institutions are embracing digital technology, featuring 40 legacy cultural institutions that were nominated by peers as innovative leaders in technology. The report and its accompanying website summarize key themes and lessons learned, profile eight organizations in depth and provide background on 32 others.

With Dot Connector Studio, we evaluated the foundation’s investments in podcasting and on-demand audio through the lens of Knight grantees, then wrote the report, From Airwaves to Earbuds.

We conducted interviews, focus groups, and community meetings of Kansas City artists and arts organizations to inform the future direction of Charlotte Street.