Evaluation gives you the data and the language to talk about the impact you have on your community. Our approach to evaluation is participatory, personalized, and accessible. We believe each program requires a customized approach and that the individuals impacted by the program should have a voice in how an evaluation is conducted. We use a mixed-methods approach to combine qualitative and quantitative data to evaluate and tell the story of your program. In other words, we use the experiences of staff, participants, and partners to explain and contextualize your hard numbers, giving a more holistic picture of your impact. Some of our methods include town halls, interviews, focus groups, feedback loops for continuous improvement, surveys, and program data analysis.

Community needs assessments and population research studies allow communities and agencies to discover more about those you currently serve or want to serve in the future. Understanding your client-base and target populations is the foundation of successful programming and helps generate buy-in for new initiatives and programs. These studies include robust partner and community engagement through interviews, focus groups, town halls, and surveys.

Funders are asking for more and more data from current and prospective grantees and we can help identify and summarize the most relevant data for your grant application, strategic plan, or grant report. We can summarize existing research on best practices, evidence-based programs, and population characteristics, and can work within your community to identify assets and service gaps.

We believe that data collection and reporting tools should be clear, user-friendly, and sustainable for those using them. We tailor data collection and reporting tools to the needs of the organization by helping you identify the data points that you need to collect, how to best measure impacts of your program, and how to use and modify the tools as time goes on and your needs change. Our expertise spans quantitative and qualitative data collection tools, including, but not limited to: surveys, facilitation guides, intake forms, spreadsheets (e.g., for tracking program participation and completion, housing assessment results, monitoring volunteer engagement, and more), student data trackers, dashboards, and capacity assessment tools.

Because of specific funder requirements, organizational priorities, and varying knowledge levels of those within your organization, our trainings are fully customized. We have trained programs across the country on logic models components, outcome and performance measure identification, data collection, evaluation, and data analysis methods. From large group trainings to one-on-one coaching and technical assistance, we can help build your capacity to make data-informed decisions that help you meet your organizational goals.