Evaluation of a community-driven funding process: Key findings

The Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative (HNI) is a five-year project launched by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in 2021. The initiative funded seven community collectives in the City of Boston and neighboring Chelsea to address neighborhood priorities related to the social determinants of health. This evaluation is the first of two about the initiative:

• Evaluation 1 (2025). Examines the extent to which BIDMC created a successful model for community-driven funding.

• Evaluation 2 (forthcoming, 2026). Captures the outcomes and impact of the initiative.

Collectives were tasked to lead an inclusive process that would select a neighborhood priority related to the social determinants of health

and develop a project to address the priority. BIDMC released funding over three grant cycles. Within each grant cycle, collectives engaged in a 4-6 month planning phase and then implemented the project over two years. 

This evaluation focuses on the planning phase of the initiative and explores the question: 

To what extent did HNI’s planning phase enable grassroots, collective decision-making and collaboration to address neighborhood priorities?

The findings are important as they highlight: 

• a range of ways in which decision-making processes can be inclusive and community-driven, and 

• strengths and challenges of collective work. 

The report offers considerations that funders, in particular, should be aware of when designing place-based funding mechanisms that require meaningful collaboration and partnership across sectors.

Read the report