Findings from the E&L Field Pulse Survey

Across philanthropy, people working in evaluation and learning are navigating a period of uncertainty. As foundations respond to shifts in federal policy, pressure on equity-focused work, and rapid changes in technology, many E&L functions are changing in scope, structure, and influence. For the consultants and firms foundations partner with, those changes are showing up even more acutely.

In Fall 2025, Engage R+D and ORS Impact launched Let's Keep Learning, a field-wide initiative to understand how these shifts are unfolding. As part of this work, we fielded a pulse survey reaching nearly 200 philanthropic E&L practitioners and followed it with virtual sensemaking sessions to interpret the findings together. We invite you to explore what we heard and continue the conversation with us about what it means.