GitLab Foundation is committed to acting in alignment with our core values of Collaboration, Results, Efficiency, Diversity & Inclusion, Iteration, and Transparency. We believe these core values keep us accountable, improve our collective ability to learn and make forward progress, and improve outcomes.
To further our goals of demonstrating transparency and results-orientation, in 2024, we will begin publishing our North Star return on investment model on our website for each grant we approve. This is a rigorous assessment of the potential impact of our investments on real people’s incomes and forms the basis for how we determine funding opportunities.
Too often, the methodologies behind grant-making decisions and impact evaluations are unclear. As we shared our models with grantees, many expressed how valuable the model was to evaluate and communicate their impact methodology both internally and to partners and other funders. Peer funders have also shared that our impact modeling approach was a novel, clear, and rigorous approach they valued. For these reasons and more, we’ve decided to begin sharing these models publicly on our website in 2024.
Grantees: We will default to publish the estimated impact model of your proposed project on our website. However, before doing so, grantees will have the opportunity to redact portions or decline for us to publish materials. Throughout the grant review process, you will also have a chance to review iterations on the model and the assumptions we use (typically provided directly through your application) and provide feedback to ensure its fidelity.
Funders: We hope you find our transparency in our impact assessments valuable, but we recognize there is always room for improvement. We encourage you to provide feedback to us on ways we might improve.
Measurement and Evaluation professionals: We encourage you to review and suggest how we might improve our modeling methodology. We collaborate with and are influenced by many great thinkers in the impact measurement and impact estimation field, and welcome your feedback.
Please email us with any feedback, comments, questions at: [email protected]
Click on the hyperlinks below to get read-only access to the ROI estimations models of our grantees:
Coalfield Development Coalition
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)