As ARDC’s grants program continues to evolve, understanding the outcomes of funded projects remains an important part of our work. The Grants Evaluation Team (GET), now in its third year, helps support this effort by reviewing completed projects and evaluating how well grantees achieved their stated goals. We’re pleased to share highlights from their latest report with the community.

For this year’s report, the GET reviewed 49 final reports submitted between June 2025 and February 2026 from ARDC-funded projects. Throughout their meetings, the team discussed trends, identified recurring themes, and worked collaboratively to evaluate project outcomes and broader program learnings.

As in previous years, the GET approached this work reflectively, looking at projects from multiple perspectives. Their discussions focused on these primary questions:

• Were these grant projects successful?
• Were they a good use of funds?
• Are the process changes we’re implementing having an impact?
• What information should we be sharing back with our community?

This year’s findings showed that project outcomes remained largely consistent with last year’s report:

The 2026 GET Report highlights continued positive outcomes across ARDC-funded projects. Read the full report for additional findings.

• About 79% of reviewed projects were considered successful and a good use of funds, compared to 84% in 2025. Projects with unclear outcomes remained at a similar level in 2026 (10%) compared to 2025 (9%).
• The GET also continued to observe evidence that ongoing process improvements may be having a positive impact. These impacts include:
  • R&D projects no longer resulting in unknown outcomes
  • Formation of the Grants Communications Team (GCT), a volunteer group that helps communicate project outcomes to both technical and non-technical audiences, has helped improve the ability to more quickly capture and publish project results for future reference
  • Grantees who are unable to complete their work voluntarily returning unused funds, helping ensure resources are not wasted or redirected for uses outside of scope

If you’d like to learn more about the GET’s findings, you can read the full report here: https://ardc.net/wp-content/uploads/2026-GET-Report.pdf. Questions about ARDC’s grantmaking program or the report findings can be directed to giving@ardc.net.