Indigo Foundation presents program-analysis framework to align grants, data and operations

The Indigo Foundation updated the board on a recently completed program analysis designed to align its grantmaking, data collection and collaboration with Indigo operations.

Executive Director Emily Moe (presented as Emily Mu in materials) said the foundation engaged Taylor Advising and used a grant from the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation to fund a program analysis that resulted in three primary products: a one-page theory of change, detailed program logic models and a data-sharing framework. Moe said the work is intended to strengthen grant proposals, clarify roles between Indigo and the foundation, and improve measurement of program outcomes.

Moe described the theory of change as a roadmap linking activities—community engagement and operational support—to short- and long-term outcomes such as increased rider stability, enhanced trust in transit and elevated ridership. Logic models for each program identify lead parties, activities, outputs and measures funders typically require. The data-sharing framework enumerates the specific data points needed to demonstrate program impact, assigns responsibility for collection and recommends a sharing schedule between Indigo and the foundation.

Taylor Advising’s recommendations included better coordination of relationship tracking—sharing the foundation’s Raisers Edge CRM with selected Indigo users—and greater use of Indigo’s customer surveys to measure outcomes such as rider sense of safety and service experience. Moe said the documents will be shared with board members on request and will help the foundation better demonstrate impact to donors and partners.

Board members thanked staff and consultants for the work and asked for the logic models and data-collection materials to be distributed to the board for further review.