The MERL Value Stream Community offers free access to thinking on monitoring, evaluation, and the funder-nonprofit relationship

KANSAS CITY, MO — The MERL Value Stream Community, a new online space for nonprofit and foundation professionals, is now open for members in the Kansas City area and beyond.

The community is built around MERL: Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning. It's the discipline of turning program data, funder reports, and community feedback into a continuous loop rather than a once-a-year obligation. Organizations that manage this loop well use it to make better program decisions, strengthen funder relationships, and tell a clearer story about their impact.

"Every nonprofit is already collecting this information," the community's founder said. "The organizations that get real value from it are the ones treating it as an ongoing feedback cycle instead of a filing requirement. That's what the MERL Value Stream Community is here to help members build."

Membership is free and open to anyone working at the intersection of nonprofits and philanthropy, on either side of the relationship. Members get access to ongoing discussion and content on monitoring and evaluation design, the changing dynamics between funders and grantees, and how technology and AI are reshaping this work, alongside a growing group of peers working through the same questions.

Nonprofit and foundation professionals interested in joining can do so here: Join the MERL Value Stream Community

The MERL Value Stream Community is an initiative of the Value Stream Incubator, a division of Value Stream Consulting, a member of Nonprofit Connect.