Case Study: Houston Endowment achieves portfolio-driven system change and a culture of learning with GivingData

Houston Endowment utilizes Portfolio Management to orchestrate system change

Houston Endowment needed to shift its unit of action and analysis from individual grants to grant portfolios and required a system to manage portfolio budgets, store strategy documents, and support ongoing learning. They partnered with GivingData and piloted its Portfolio Management tool to consolidate and standardize portfolios using Strategy Briefings, Theories of Change, and MEL plans while enabling portfolio-level reporting and learning processes.

GivingData’s Portfolio Management delivered timeline visualizations, structured “Key Moments” reflections, aggregated grant-level coding, and a single grantmaking platform. Three years into use, Houston Endowment has reorganized and consolidated portfolios, improved visibility, forecasting and oversight, standardized strategy management practices, made monthly reflection a habit, and strengthened its ability to respond to crises like Hurricane Harvey and COVID-19—demonstrating measurable shifts in alignment, reporting, and learning driven by GivingData.

Houston Endowment

Russell Ramsey

Director of Learning and Evaluation