As a philanthropy that supports research to understand the root causes of America’s most persistent and pressing problems, Arnold Ventures helps lawmakers identify, implement, and scale programs with a proven record of success, and build a lasting practice of evidence-based policymaking.
Effective policy is critical to improving the lives of American families, strengthening their communities, and promoting their economic opportunity.
Policymakers regularly face complex challenges with limited resources, making it even more imperative they back strategies with the highest chance of achieving better outcomes for children, families, and communities. That’s why we partner with lawmakers and agency leaders to help identify and support programs proven effective through rigorous research and replication studies.
As part of these partnerships, AV offers matching philanthropic dollars to incentivize implementing and expanding evidence-based policies at the state, local, county, and municipal level.
Currently, government social spending often fails to prioritize or reward programs with evidence of impact, leading proven programs to serve only a small fraction of those who could benefit. Our partnerships aim to address this funding gap by using philanthropic support to provide immediate public and philanthropic funds to scale programs backed by a robust body of evidence, helping policymakers fulfill their promises to their constituents.
“Arnold Ventures will help us support evidence-based programs that lift Maryland families. By working together, we will ensure access to high-quality programs for our children.”Governor Wes Moore
These partnerships also help institutionalize evidence-based criteria in public spending processes, creating a legislative instinct to follow rigorous research that lasts beyond the life of the partnership. Ultimately, these partnerships will ensure more Americans have access to strong programs and services that have been demonstrated to deliver real outcomes and returns on public investment.
