Ideas for evaluation tool for client
We have a grantee who is giving out beds to any / all who "need" them. The need is determined by the person / family voicing their need - there are no "qualifications" of any sort. The organization does not collect any information from the person who receives the bed, except name and maybe a phone #. This org is run by volunteers. Their model is actually very generous. And I can resonate with a lot of the philosophy behind what they do.
However, since there is no paperwork or collection of information, they claim they aren't able to do community impact data collection - especially since they are run by volunteers.
I will be meeting with this organization the first week of December, and I would like to present some ideas for impact data collection to them...One thought I have is that they could do a Google form and have recipients of beds complete the form 1-2 months after receiving. Or maybe have the org help the recipient complete a couple of survey questions at the time of bed delivery...Asking them to answer some at the same time - not to create a barrier (which I think may be the view of some) but to help the organization understand why the beds are so important for the recipient.
What do you all think? Do you have experience in trying to convince a volunteer run org to work on this? What has been the solution? Is that solution working?
Thanks in advance for all of your ideas!
Comments
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That's a challenge! Personally, I feel that volunteer run organizations should be held to the same accountability as staff-led organizations. So, if we're going to grant to an agency, we would expect a complete report regardless of how the agency is run.
I think a quick 2-3 minute phone survey would be easy on the volunteers and the clients. Just a quick call and asking the client to answer a few questions could be effective.
Good luck!
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Thanks, @TomWickersham , I agree, that the accountability needs to be the same. I will share this idea with them.
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Hi Celeste-
Is there more to the bed delivery model that makes it a "program", such as outreach and additional supports? If not, then I might consider the number of beds distributed to be the final outcome measure. This might be a good example of where a logic model could help. Tom's suggestions about interviews is a good one. The real changes that result from the beds may be better understood through a few case studies. Best of luck.
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@KateClavijo - thank you for this idea.
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