Assessing Community Nonprofits Capacity for Program Evaluation

Program evaluation activities are often a requirement from funders as a contingency of awarding funding, and nonprofit organizations that receive funding are typically ill-equipped to fulfill these requirements. This student, along with other STEPs staff members, has conducted research on how to increase program evaluation capacity for local nonprofit organizations, and how to bridge the gap between funders and funding recipients. To do so, 32 in-person interviews were conducted with nonprofit leaders in the community. A mixed methods questionnaire was created, and MSW students were trained to conduct the interviews. After the quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed, a report was compiled and presented back to nonprofits for their input. The final report was also presented to a local funding source, to help inform them of the struggles that nonprofits face in fulfilling funding requirements. Since conducting this research project, this student received additional funding from a UNO Urban Research Grant to offer free program evaluation capacity building trainings to nonprofit staff in the community. Following attending those trainings, individuals are able to apply for free one-on-one individualized consulting to assist with program evaluation needs. Trainings and consulting will continue to be offered with curriculum focused on the needs identified in the interviews. Once an organization has completed the program evaluation training series and consulting, staff will be able to take on program evaluation activities independently and not only fulfill requirements from funders, but hopefully secure additional funding as well. This presentation will summarize the findings from this research