Introduction: Take a Collaborative Approach to Monitoring the Progress of Our Investments

1. Recognize grantees as experts: We work alongside our grantees in deciding what indicators and metrics to collect. We recognize our grantees are experts in their field and have their own goals for how and when they conduct impact measurement.
2. Reduce reporting burden: We recognize that the inherent power imbalance between grantees and a foundation can create costly and onerous reporting requirements. We aim to take a balanced, thoughtful approach to avoid unnecessary burdens. The GitLab Foundation impact measurement team members meet with grantees to align on what indicators and metrics matter most to grantees.
   1. Learn how to streamline reporting: The GitLab Foundation also reviews what indicators the grantee is already reporting to other funders to reduce grantee burden further. We may require a few impact metrics to be reported on, but grantees select the majority of metrics. This is similar to the ‘made to order’ path in the metrics cafe framework.
3. Outcomes-centric organization: As an outcomes-centric organization, we measure our success not by the amount of money invested in grantees but by the positive outcomes efficiently generated through our investments. More specifically, we measure our success through the additional lifetime earnings generated by every dollar granted. Our priority is to understand how our grantees are efficiently creating economic opportunities that lead to demonstrated increases in income, employment, and attainment of at least a living wage income for their stakeholders.

Timeline and Reporting

There are four key grantee reporting periods. See the impact monitoring and reporting timeline and detailed instructions below:

Step 1: Grant Kickoff Meeting

Program officers will arrange for a grantee kickoff meeting after their grant has been approved. This call will review the goals of the grant, the impact metrics that the grantee is planning to collect, as well as the key reporting dates the grantee should be aware of. The meeting ensures that grantees and the Foundation are aligned on all grant goals and reporting requirements. The impact metrics listed should come directly from the grantee’s grant application.

Staff instructions:

1. **Please use the grantee kickoff meeting template here.**
2. The Impact Measurement team completes the impact metrics section.
   1. List the metrics as defined on the grantee’s application.
   2. List the outcomes as defined on the grantee’s application.
   3. List the key learning questions as defined on the grantee’s application.
3. The Program Officer leads the call and sends the kickoff meeting agenda and document to grantee prior to the call.
4. The GitLab Foundation team will go through the kickoff template section by section during the call, asking specific questions as needed.
   1. Common questions include further defining what kind of data the grantee can report (e.g. ask a grantee to clarify what they mean when they refer to ‘socioeconomic’ data), timing expectations with the annual impact survey and when the grantee will obtain outcome data, learning more about a grantee’s plans to deepen impact data or participant feedback, and asking how the Foundation can further support the grantee’s impact measurement activities.
5. After the kickoff call is complete, the Impact Measurement team will send the grantee a link to their unique impact dashboard (designed using UpMetrics) which includes links to their predicted ROI, grant goals, impact reporting timeline, and links to grant-related documents.

Step 2: Mid-Program Check-in Discussion

Program Officers will arrange for a mid-year grantee check-in meeting approximately six months after the start of the grant. This call is to facilitate an interim learning and insights discussion between the Foundation staff and grantee staff to better understand any progress, challenges, or accomplishments to date.

Staff instructions:

1. Please use the grantee mid-program check-in template here.
2. Be sure to ask about any insights gained on the key learning questions as defined during the kickoff call.

Step 3: Annual Impact Survey Report and Discussion

The GitLab Foundation requires an annual impact report from all grantees to facilitate mutual learnings and shared insights.

Survey Send Date: This survey is sent to the grantee 60 days before the anniversary date of the grant.

Survey Due Date: The survey can be completed anytime between 60 days before the anniversary and 60 days after the anniversary. We welcome surveys to be submitted early because the survey is required to be submitted before any formal re-granting discussions can occur. Due to this requirement, some grantees may want to submit their annual impact survey before the deadline of 60 days after the anniversary.

Survey Questions: This survey formally captures quantitative outcomes and qualitative insights from every Foundation grantee. The online survey is emailed to the grantee and includes quantitative questions on the metrics as agreed upon during the grant kickoff call, as well as questions on fundraising progress during the grant period. The open-ended questions will be asked on a subsequent video call but are listed in advance to help the grantee prepare for the call. See an example of the annual impact survey here.

Financial Reporting: All grantees must also complete the financial reporting spreadsheet.

How this survey is used:

1. Facilitate a discussion around key learnings during the grant period
2. Inform the Foundation’s future grantmaking strategy
3. Foster grantee reflection
4. Record key insights for future reference
5. Recalculate the Foundation’s original North Star return on investment prediction
6. Update the Foundation’s aggregate impact results across its grantees
7. Gather insights that could be shared publicly in the Foundation’s communications

Staff instructions:

1. The Impact Measurement team will create a grantee-specific impact survey using SurveyMonkey software. The questions will be generated from the metrics listed during the grantee kickoff call.
2. The survey link will be saved in the grantee’s GivingData account and an email send date will be created for 60 days before the anniversary date (the grant dates are listed in the grant agreement)
3. The Impact Measurement team is responsible for notifying Program Officers once the surveys have been completed and an annual reflection and discussion call can be scheduled.
4. All impact survey data is reviewed by the Impact Measurement team and saved to a central impact reporting dataset.

Step 4: Annual Reflection and Discussion

No later than one month after the annual impact survey is submitted, an hour-long discussion will occur between the grantee’s staff, the Foundation’s program officer, and a member of the Impact Measurement team.

Staff instructions:

1. The Program Officer will set up the call and invite the relevant grantee staff and a member of the Impact Measurement team
2. The Program Officer and Impact Measurement team member will review the annual impact survey submission and include follow-up questions or comments into the agenda.
3. The call will be recorded on Zoom and also include an AI notetaker application. The video recording and notes will be saved in the grantee’s impact monitoring folder.

The timeline chart above, maps to the feedback loop cycle below:

Design = Kickoff Call

Collect = Mid-program conversation

Analyze = Annual impact survey

Dialogue = Post-impact survey reflection and discussion

Course Correct = Grantee and GitLab Foundation internal strategic discussions