Base Building Evaluation: Three Opportunities to Improve its Use and Relevance

The concept of base building comes from the traditions of electoral and labor organizing, where organizers focus on drawing leadership from a specific constituency or geography. Base building is foundational to organizing efforts. It involves the recruitment, training, and leadership development of people who are often most directly impacted by the issues and causes that organizing focuses on. In recent years, base building has seen increased interest and investment from the philanthropic sector as funders recognize base building as critical to community-led change. As funders expand their investment in base building, they increasingly seek information and data about base building progress and impact. Guidance about how to appropriately assess base building largely does not exist. In the absence of specific direction for evaluating base building, funders and evaluators may apply frameworks and methods that are inconsistent with base building practices and do not fully capture its nuances and unique contributions. This article provides funders and evaluators with insights into the unique characteristics and elements of base building and their implications for evaluation and assessment, and provides ideas for specific evaluation approaches and practices that are aligned with base building practice.