Practical Evaluation and Research for Community-Based Organizations
We help nonprofits build evidence they can actually use, without adding to the burden of already-stretched teams.
Community-based organizations are closest to the people, families, and communities they serve. That proximity brings invaluable knowledge about what communities need and what works, but it can be difficult to translate that knowledge into evidence, especially while managing programs, responding to funders, and meeting day-to-day demands.
We partner with organizations to make evaluation and research useful to the work itself. We help organizations understand what is working, strengthen programs as they evolve, and communicate their impact clearly and credibly to funders, partners, boards, and communities.
Our team has extensive experience working with nonprofits in workforce development, early childhood, education, economic mobility, and community development. We understand that organizations need approaches that are rigorous without being burdensome, responsive to the realities of implementation, and grounded in the experiences of the people they serve.
Services for Community-Based Nonprofits
Understand what is working and why it matters.
We design practical evaluations that help organizations understand whether programs are achieving their goals, for whom, and under what conditions. We build on the data you already collect whenever possible and focus new data collection on questions that will actually inform decisions. The result is evidence you can use to improve your work and communicate its value.
Bringing community knowledge into decisions.
We help organizations better understand the needs, experiences, and priorities of the communities they serve. Through surveys, interviews, focus groups, administrative data, and other research methods, we bring together quantitative evidence and lived experience to identify needs, uncover patterns, and inform program and organizational strategy.
Evaluation that works alongside you, not after the fact.
As an embedded learning partner, we become an extension of your team. We help define outcomes, develop practical ways to measure progress, analyze what you are learning, and create regular opportunities to use that information. Instead of waiting until the end of a grant or initiative to find out what worked, your team gets useful feedback while there is still time to act on it.