Browse Community Resources
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#JAGUnity2014: Innovations in Evaluating Social Movements Today, social movement organizers are grappling with big questions: What is the long-term impact we are hoping to make? How can we measure the progress we've made thus far? How can we learn from past practice? On June 7, 2014, Innovation Netowrk's William Fenn spoke on a panel with with Deepak Pateriya and Sian O'Faolain of the Center for Community Change and Hillary Klein of Make the Road New York to try and answer some of these questions. Author: Will Fenn, Deepak Pateriya, Sian O'Faolain, Hillary Klein Type: Presentation Slides Date: Jun 7, 2014 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
2008 Civic Engagement Evaluation Assessment and Recommendations for the Field 2008 was a historic year for civic participation in the United States. The Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP) brings together grantmakers committed to enhancing democratic participation in all aspects of civic life. Its nearly 80 members comprised of private, public and community foundations collectively contributed scores of millions of dollars to non-partisan civic engagement efforts of all kinds nationwide.
Author: Lacy M. Serros Type: Research & Reports Date: Dec 1, 2009 Be the first to review this resource! Download (699.52 KB) -
A Practical Guide to Documenting Influence and Leverage In Making Connections Communities How does one document influence (change in policies, systems, practices and/or opinions that support one’s strategies) and leverage (investment by public and private funders in one’s strategies)?
Author: Organizational Research Services Type: Research & Reports Date: Feb 12, 2007
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Addressing Attribution of Cause and Effect in Small n Impact Evaluations: Towards an Integrated Framework With the results agenda in the ascendancy in the development community, there is an increasing need to demonstrate that development spending makes a difference, that it has an impact. This requirement to demonstrate results has fuelled an increase in the demand for, and production of, impact evaluations. There exists considerable consensus among impact evaluators conducting large n impact evaluations involving tests of statistical difference in outcomes between the treatment group and a properly constructed comparison group.
Author: Howard White and Daniel Phillips Type: Research & Reports Date: Jun 1, 2012
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Advocacy Evaluation Update #9 In This Issue:
1. Feature: Framework of Factors that Affect Political Support
Why do some issues receive priority attention from political leaders while others receive very little? Political scientist Jeremy Shiffman has developed a framework that offers a response to this question.
2. Spotlight: Evaluating Community Organizing
Catherine Crystal Foster and Justin Louie identify what to consider when evaluating community organizing efforts. They also offer example benchmarks and methods for capturing organizing outcomes.
Author: Julia Coffman (ed.) Type: Newsletters & Periodicals Date: May 1, 2010 Be the first to review this resource! Download (329.6 KB) -
AEA Presentation: "Community Organizing Evaluation: Crossing the Next Frontier" Sue Hoechstetter of Alliance for Justice presented the following slides at the American Evaluation Association 2008 conference. The presentation provides a brief overview of "community organizing evaluation" and recent efforts to produce a collection of resources ("RECO") on the topic. Author: Hoechstetter, Sue Type: Presentation Slides Date: Nov 1, 2008 Be the first to review this resource! Download (1.05 MB) -
AEA Presentation: "Online Evaluation Resources: Knowledge Sharing for the Field" Sue Hoechstetter of Alliance for Justice presented the following slides at the American Evaluation Association 2008 conference. The presentation provides a brief overviews of AFJ's online tools for advocacy evaluation.
The following resources were also presented during the same session at AEA:
Author: Hoechstetter, Sue Type: Presentation Slides Date: Nov 5, 2008 Be the first to review this resource! Download (8.09 MB) -
Agency Experiences with Outcome Measurement: Survey Findings As of January 2000, 400 United Ways across the country were asking programs they fund
to identify and measure their outcomes—the benefits or changes the programs want
participants to experience as a result of their services. United Ways are not alone. Many
state and local government agencies, foundations, managed care systems, and accrediting bodies
have added outcome measurement to the list of performance and accountability measures
they require of nonprofit organizations within their sphere.Author: United Way of America Type: Research & Reports Date: Jan 1, 2000 Be the first to review this resource! Download (209.74 KB) -
An Ecological Understanding of Evaluation Use: A Case Study of the Active for Life Evaluation This document presents a case study of use of an evaluation of Active for Life: Increasing Physical Activity Levels in Adults Age 50 and Older a program sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The breadth of both the program and the evaluation created additional ways of thinking about evaluation use–what it looks like, where you find it and how to connect it.
Author: Judith Ottoson and Diane Martinez, Type: Research & Reports Date: Jun 1, 2010 Be the first to review this resource! Download (847.79 KB) -
Ask the Expert: An Introduction to Theory of Change In this article from The Evaluation Exchange, Andrea Anderson, a research associate at the Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change, shares an introduction to theory of change and steps for creating a theory of change. Author: Erin Harris, HFRP Type: Newsletters & Periodicals Date: Nov 4, 2009 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Assessing Capacity for Community Change Efforts: Learnings From an Adaptive Initiative (Presentation slides) Should community change efforts be focused on funding coalitions or funding a flexible group of community leaders? The Kansas Health Foundation has embraced a four-pronged community change model that targets community leaders as key agents of change within each of their funded communities. Author: Kat Athanasiades, Veena Pankaj, Deanna Van Hersh Type: Presentation Slides Date: Oct 17, 2013 Point K Pick Be the first to review this resource! Download (682.32 KB) -
Assessing Capacity for Community Change Efforts: Learnings From an Adaptive Initiative [Slides] Should community change efforts be focused on funding coalitions or funding a flexible group of community leaders? The Kansas Health Foundation has embraced a four-pronged community change model that targets community leaders as key agents of change within each of their funded communities. Innovation Network, the evaluation partner for the Kansas Health Foundation's Healthy Communities Initiative, developed and deployed an assessment tool designed to contribute to the assessment of leadership capacity in effecting community change. Author: Kat Athanasiades, Veena Pankaj, and Deanna Van Hersh Type: Presentation Slides Date: Oct 17, 2013 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Assessing the Capacity of Community Coalitions to Advocate for Change (Presentation Handout) Research has shown that high-capacity coalitions are more successful in effecting community change. While a number of coalition assessment tools have been developed, documentation is scarce regarding how they are implemented, how the results are used, and whether they are predictive of coalition success in collaborative community change efforts.
Author: Veena Pankaj, Kat Athanasiades, Ann Emery, Johanna Morariu Type: Presentation Slides Date: May 22, 2013 Point K Pick Be the first to review this resource! Download (377.49 KB) -
Brief: "Pathways for Change: 6 Theories about How Policy Change Happens" ORS' Sarah Stachowiak discusses six theories on the process of policy change. This brief was published with the support of The California Endowment. Author: Organizational Research Services Type: Research & Reports Date: Jan 1, 2009 Be the first to review this resource! Download (200.21 KB) -
Building a Culture of Evaluation: 30 Ideas to Apply to Your Organization This fun infographic by Community Solutions shows 30 ways to build a culture of evaluation into your organization. Examples include starting with simple evaluations to demonstrate benefits and worth, positioning evaluation as a way of giving staff a voice, and scheduling time up front in the program planning phase to discuss evaluation.
Author: Community Solutions Type: Tipsheets & Paper Tools Date: Jan 1, 2011 Be the first to review this resource! Download (148.96 KB) -
Capaciteria Capaciteria is a community site for nonprofit capacity building. A free membership gives you access to a broad collection of capacity-building resources (over 3400 links!). The site encourages rating of resources and forum discussions, but it looks like those features aren't being fully used. Still, there's a lot of knowledge here. Author: Internaut Consulting Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jan 18, 2008
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Characteristics of An Effective Stakeholder Participatory Process Creating opportunities for diverse stakeholders to engage in meaningful dialogue is often challenging. Stakeholders have different reasons for participating and have varying knowledge about the topics under discussion. A lack of trust in or understanding of the process and each other can also hinder participatory practices. The characteristics listed in this resource page show how to address these challenges and ensure and effective participatory process.
Author: Abinader Group Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jan 1, 2013 Be the first to review this resource! Download (575.86 KB) -
Clinic Consortia: Policy and Advocacy Program Evaluation Many community health centers in California have formed regional consortia and statewide organizations. The California Endowment funded 19 such consortia to strengthen their capacity to support community clinic management, leadership development, policy, and systems integration needs. This paper describes the evaluation results of the program for the years 2001-2003. The evaluation was conducted by the Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Author: Gardner, Annette Type: Research & Reports Date: Oct 1, 2005 Be the first to review this resource! Download (345.91 KB) -
Coalition Assessment: Approaches for Measuring Capacity and Impact Why assess coalition capacity? How should a coalition be assessed? How can coalition assessment data be analyzed and used?
Author: Veena Pankaj, Kat Athanasiades, and Ann Emery Type: Research & Reports Date: Feb 4, 2014 Point K Pick Be the first to review this resource! Download (768.05 KB) -
Community Action Resources for Inuit, Métis and First Nations: Evaluating This kit is a self-help tool for Aboriginal people who want to get a community development project off the ground. The series of six manuals contains information, tips, examples and ready-to-use charts that you can copy and use for yourself or to train others in your community. It is intended to be user-friendly, emphasizing questions such as what, why, when and how to accomplish the different steps of a community development project.
Author: Health Canada Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: May 7, 2007
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Community Development Evaluation Storymap This interactive resource offers concise explanations and real-world applications of capacity assessment, performance measurement, and outcome evaluation approaches, along with information about recommended tools and resources for each process. Author: NeighborWorks® America Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jun 28, 2006 Be the first to review this resource! Download (6.01 MB) -
Community Resource Institute Tutorials A collection of the following community empowerment tutorials:1. Using Data to Support Grant Applications and Other Funding Opportunities
2. Monitoring Trends and Identifying Emerging Problems
3. Using Data to Disseminate Information to Engage Community and Policymakers
4. Using Data to Evaluate Progress in Meeting Goals
5. Using Data to Establish Priorities and Plan ProgramsAuthor: Community Resource Institute Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Jan 1, 2010 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Community Tool Box The Community Toolbox offers a wide range of free information and tools to support you in your work:
- Browse 46 Chapters through which you can obtain more than 300 different sections providing practical, step-by-step guidance in community-building skills.
- Access succinct guidance on 16 core competencies for community work, including how to conduct a community assessment, develop a strategic plan, write a grant, or evaluate your efforts.
Author: University of Kansas, Community Health and Development Workgroup Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jan 1, 2015 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Developmental Evaluation This presentation by Ricardo Wilson-Grau at the Michigan Association for Evaluation's annual conference is based on the concept of Developmental Evaluation (DE) elaborated by Michael Quinn Patton over the past 20 years and now crystallised in a book – Developmental Evaluation: Applying Complexity Concepts to Enhance Innovation and Use. The presentation presents an overview of DE, explains the basic theory behind DE, when can DE be used in evaluation, as well as the differences between DE and traditional evaluation. Author: Ricardo Wilson-Grau Type: Presentation Slides Date: May 3, 2000 Be the first to review this resource! Download (5.05 MB) -
Essentials of Survey Research and Analysis This workbook for community researchers includes chapters on survey basics, types of data, questionnaire formats, constructing questions and answers, assessing reliability, identifying research problems and defining solutions, sampling, coding and data organization, formatting and testing, storing data, data entry and quality control, analysis, and reporting. Author: Polland, Ronald J. Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Jan 1, 2005 Be the first to review this resource! Download (260.35 KB)