Harder+Company Community Research

What Harder+Company Community Research does

Harder+Company Community Research is a privately held, employee/partner-owned professional services firm founded in 1986 and headquartered in San Diego, California, with additional offices in Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The firm delivers research, evaluation, strategy, and capacity-building services to public and social-sector organizations across the United States, including private foundations, federal/state/county/city government agencies, healthcare providers, school districts, and nonprofit organizations. It reports having served "hundreds of organizations" since founding, with more than 90 named representative clients including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, California Department of Public Health, First 5 commissions across California and Arizona, Kaiser, and L.A. Care Health Plan.

The firm's core "technology" is a refined research and consulting methodology stack rather than a software product. It blends rigorous mixed-methods evaluation (formative, summative, learning, and developmental), human-centered design, Rapid Cycle Learning (Plan-Do-Study-Act), culturally-responsive community engagement, capacity building, strategy development and planning, and — since 2021 — the We All Count Data Equity Framework. These five service lines are applied across nine Areas of Impact (Health, Behavioral Health, Early Childhood, Education, Children/Youth/Families, Equity + Place, Housing + Community Development, Criminal Justice, and Arts + Culture). Operationally the firm relies on standard statistical software (SPSS), CRM databases maintained by a dedicated Proposal Manager, and video conferencing platforms, with no proprietary software product, public API, or AI/ML system in evidence.

The business model is fee-for-service professional services: project-based consulting contracts with defined scopes of work, deliverables, and timelines, frequently structured as multi-year engagements and retainer-style relationships with repeat clients. Revenue is generated from foundations, government agencies, health plans, and nonprofits through direct, relationship-based sales — proposals developed by an in-house Proposal Manager & Graphic Designer in coordination with research staff. The firm employs more than 30 diverse consultants (with a wider network of past and present blog contributors) and is currently owned by four internal partners who assumed ownership in June 2019 from founder Paul Harder, who retired as CEO in March 2018.

Name

Harder+Company Community Research

Legal name

Harder+Company Community Research

Website

https://harderco.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Harder+Company Community Research is an employee-owned research and evaluation consultancy founded in 1986, delivering mixed-methods evaluation, strategy, and capacity-building services to U.S. foundations, government agencies, healthcare providers, and nonprofits across nine areas of impact.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Research and Evaluation Consulting

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (54191)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Industry & Sector Research (Syndicated/Custom) (BPAHALAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Public Sector & Policy Consulting (BPAHACAN)

Keywords

• Evaluation consulting services
• Social research and planning
• Community engagement consulting
• Capacity building services
• Strategy development consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Evaluation and Research Consulting Engagements: Fee-for-service consulting projects billed to public and social-sector clients (foundations, government agencies, health departments, school districts, nonprofits). Engagements are project-based with defined scopes of work, deliverables, and timelines; multi-year contracts and retainer relationships are common given the long-term nature of many initiatives (e.g., First 5 commissions, multi-year evaluations).
2. Strategy Development + Planning Engagements: Strategic planning and cross-sector collaboration engagements billed as consulting services, supporting clients to articulate results, develop theories of change, and align stakeholders.
3. Capacity Building and Training Services: Workshops, trainings, internal staff development, and organizational assessments for clients and partners; delivered as part of broader engagements or as standalone capacity-building projects.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Harder+Company Community Research is a professional services consulting firm that blends rigorous research methods with real-world strategy to help public and social-sector organizations learn about their impact and sharpen their strategies. The firm designs and conducts mixed-methods program evaluations, learning-oriented and developmental evaluations, strategic planning and cross-sector collaboration engagements, culturally-responsive community engagement, and capacity building for clients and their partners. Engagements are delivered as project-based consulting contracts by a staff of more than 30 diverse consultants operating from offices in Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

Product overview

Harder+Company Community Research delivers a unified professional services offering rather than a software product with modules. Its core offering is research, evaluation, and consulting services organized around five named service lines — Formative + Summative Evaluation, Learning + Developmental Evaluation, Strategy Development + Planning, Community Engagement, and Capacity Building — applied across nine Areas of Impact (Health, Behavioral Health, Early Childhood, Education, Children Youth + Families, Equity + Place, Housing + Community Development, Criminal Justice, and Arts + Culture). These service lines and areas of impact fit together as an integrated portfolio: the service lines define the methodologies (e.g., the formative/summative and learning/developmental evaluations and the community engagement/capacity building practices), while the Areas of Impact define the substantive sectors in which those methodologies are applied. Individual client engagements typically combine multiple service lines within a single Area of Impact, supported by a staff of more than 30 diverse consultants with offices in Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego (headquarters).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Formative + Summative Evaluation Rigorous mixed-methods evaluation services that help public and social-sector organizations understand both impact and implementation. Formative evaluations examine an organization's activities and operations to align plans, evidence base, and execution; summative evaluations focus on changes resulting from a specific program, strategy, or initiative.
• Learning + Developmental Evaluation Evaluation services designed for innovative, complex approaches to advancing social equity and transforming systems that are not well served by traditional formative or summative techniques. Embraces complexity, adapts to changing context, and provides rapid feedback to help organizations hone efforts over time.
• Strategy Development + Planning Strategy support that helps clients articulate desired results and develop the strategies needed to achieve impact. Includes assessing current assets and intended impact, examining organizational positioning within a field, developing action steps, and guiding cross-sector collaboration efforts.
• Community Engagement Engagement services that help clients involve community members in meaningful, inclusive, and culturally responsive ways. Uses a wide range of creative and proven techniques to incorporate participants into various aspects of the research or planning process, including virtual focus groups with accessibility support.
• Capacity Building Capacity building services that strengthen the ability of clients and their partners to make good use of data. Includes building specific technical skills, developing tools and processes that improve systems, conducting organizational assessments, and providing structured evaluation technical assistance (TA) for grantees.
• Health Area of Impact Health-focused consulting work blending individual, population, and structural approaches to meet care and prevention needs. Areas include systems integration, health equity, health impact assessment, public health accreditation, oral health, HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, healthy eating/active living, and aging.
• Behavioral Health Area of Impact Behavioral and mental health consulting supporting state and county agencies and community partners in planning, evaluating, and improving services for vulnerable populations. Deep knowledge of behavioral and mental health models for hard-to-reach and underserved communities.
• Early Childhood Area of Impact Early care and education consulting for First 5 agencies throughout California and Arizona. Evaluation and planning efforts address kindergarten readiness, quality rating and improvement systems, formal and informal systems of care, family support and engagement, home visitation, and systems change strategies.
• Education Area of Impact Education consulting focused on assessing the impact of initiatives that support academic achievement, college preparedness, and youth leadership, particularly for low-income youth. Explores how communities and families involve themselves in schools and how community agencies become part of service networks.
• Children, Youth + Families Area of Impact Consulting work helping organizations advance the wellbeing of vulnerable children, youth, and families. Areas include child abuse prevention and intervention, foster care, home-based family support, transitional and independent living, early intervention, quality improvement plans, and practice frameworks.
• Equity + Place Area of Impact Place-based consulting that helps organizations understand the impact of equity-focused efforts. Works across sectors to examine issues of power and inequality in health outcomes, social and academic achievement, housing quality, and community safety. Uses developmental techniques to help community partners surface issues in real-time.
• Housing + Community Development Area of Impact Housing and community development consulting covering housing, homelessness, community development, and neighborhood change. Includes assessing housing needs for transition age youth, the chronically homeless, and people with mental health needs, and evaluating services to support stable housing.
• Criminal Justice Area of Impact Criminal justice consulting evaluating initiatives including gang prevention and intervention, wraparound legal services for victims of crime, recidivism reduction, and assessment of law enforcement policies and practices. Often coordinates partners across criminal justice agencies and human service systems.
• Arts + Culture Area of Impact Arts and culture consulting that helps the sector become more sustainable and connected to the public. Includes examining organizational effectiveness of arts nonprofits, assessing diversity and equity in arts funding and capacity building, measuring impact of audience and community engagement strategies, and assessing leadership development.

Quantifiable outcome

• Helped hundreds of organizations contribute to positive social impact for vulnerable communities since 1986
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers97 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature10 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Annie E. Casey Foundation (LEEAD Program)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerHarder+Company hosts LEEAD (Leaders in Equitable Evaluation and Diversity) scholars as contributors to evaluation projects, providing mentorship and project-based learning opportunities. The program aims to increase the evaluation field's diversity by developing pipelines of leaders from communities that are underrepresented. Harder+Company has hosted multiple cohorts (2017 and 2018 referenced), with each scholar assigned to support a real client evaluation project for approximately six months. Scholars complete intensive online coursework to strengthen consulting and culturally responsive evaluation skills.
• Equal MeasurecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEqual Measure is a peer evaluation and consulting organization that collaborates with Harder+Company on joint publications, including the AEA365 blog post "Communicating Amidst Complexity: Principles to Guide Developmental Evaluators" (Feb 2017, by Clare Nolan and Meg Long of Equal Measure) and "How Evaluators and Communicators Can Embrace for Success" (Dec 2016, by Kevin Rafter and Seth Klukoff of Equal Measure).
• We All CountcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerHarder+Company staff attended an online training by We All Count focused on the Data Equity Framework, which interrogates the different stages of the research process with an equity lens. The firm has integrated We All Count's reflection tools (funding web, data biography, discuss denominators, separate results from interpretation) into their evaluation practice.
• Dr. Audrey Jordan (Racial Equity Consultant)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerEngaged to articulate a set of anti-racism objectives for the organization, focusing on consulting practice, staff commitment, organizational policies and practice, and accountability structures. Supports the firm in developing a participatory anti-racism plan with overarching goals, activities, timelines, and resources.
• Dr. Victoria RodriguezcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSupports internal anti-racism book club facilitators, helping them prepare to address power dynamics, unintended harm, and possible trauma during book club discussions as part of the firm's anti-racism journey.
• Pew Charitable TrustscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHarder+Company partnered with Pew Charitable Trusts to assess the health equity impacts of the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) model, with LEEAD scholar Dr. Felisa Gonzales supporting the work. The HIA project is a long-running Pew initiative aimed at integrating health considerations into policy and planning decisions.
• Colorado Health FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFeatured client and partner in thought leadership work on collaborative funder-grantee relationships. The firm published "Tools for collaborative relationships between funders and grantees" (Aug 2017, by Jennifer James) referencing the Foundation's vision to make Colorado the healthiest state and its work on healthy schools strategy.
• BRIDGE Housing CorporationminorOthersFeatured client/case study in the Rapid Cycle Learning blog post (Aug 2020) about adaptive evaluation during COVID-19. BRIDGE leveraged resident data to identify 400+ randomly selected recipients for $300 one-time relief cash grants, with Harder+Company describing how feedback loops were used to assess impact.
• Family Independence Initiative (FII)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerClient partner for a human-centered design evaluation assessing the diffusion of FII's model (how benefits spread from participating families to a broader network). FII provided feedback endorsing the human-centered design approach. Harder+Company presented at AEA Evaluation 2018 workshop on this engagement.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Innovation Network (InnoNet): Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit evaluation consulting firm providing evaluation, strategy, and learning services to foundations, nonprofits, and government agencies. Directly comparable to Harder+Company in methodology (mixed-methods, equity-centered, capacity-building) and client base.
• Wilder Research: Minnesota-based research arm of Amherst H. Wilder Foundation providing evaluation, research, and data services to nonprofits, government, and foundations. Comparable in size, mission-driven approach, and breadth of services across health, education, and human services sectors.
• James Bell Associates: Arlington, VA-based research and evaluation firm specializing in health, behavioral health, child welfare, and human services. Comparable to Harder+Company in serving government agencies and foundations with mixed-methods evaluation and policy research.
• Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: University-affiliated research center focused on children, youth, and family policy with strong foundation and government client base. Directly comparable to Harder+Company's Early Childhood and Children, Youth & Families Areas of Impact and shares equity-centered research orientation.
• Equal Measure: Philadelphia-based evaluation and philanthropic consulting firm focused on equity and social impact. Equal Measure is explicitly named as a peer collaborator with Harder+Company on AEA365 publications and shares a similar mission-driven, equity-centered approach serving foundations and nonprofits.

Broad incumbents

• RAND Corporation: Large, established policy research institution with deep government and foundation client base across health, education, criminal justice, and social policy. Overlaps with Harder+Company across multiple Areas of Impact but operates at vastly greater scale and research breadth.
• American Institutes for Research (AIR): Large nonprofit research and evaluation organization serving education, health, workforce, and human services clients globally. Comparable to Harder+Company on mixed-methods evaluation and foundation/government clients, but with much greater scale, geographic reach, and breadth of services.
• Mathematica Policy Research: Large, established policy research and evaluation firm serving federal, state, and foundation clients across health, education, and human services. Overlaps with Harder+Company on evaluation methodologies and client types but operates at significantly greater scale and broader portfolio.
• Abt Associates: Major research and consulting firm serving U.S. federal agencies, foundations, and international clients across health, environment, and social policy. Competes with Harder+Company on large government evaluations but is much larger and more diversified.
• NORC at the University of Chicago: Independent research organization affiliated with the University of Chicago conducting social science research for government, foundations, and corporations. Comparable to Harder+Company on evaluation, health, and equity research but operates at much larger scale and broader scope.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/harderco
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/49172

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Harder+Company Community Research