Resources

In 2010, various free, online webinars and in-person trainings will be conducted by CRA and our sister company, The Grantwell LLC. Information on CRA trainings will be posted here as more information becomes available.  Be sure to also check out our sister company website, The Grantwell, LLC for additional grant writing and related resources such as in-person and online trainings, webinars, and new funding opportunities.

In-Person Training on Program Evaluation:

On May 7th and 8th, CRA will hold an in-person training in Springfield, Missouri on best practices in program evaluation. This course is designed for those with little or some experience with program evaluation. For more information, including registration information, please go to: http://morriscenter.missouristate.edu/csii/nonprofitadvancement.html.

Community Need Assessment Guidance:

Community needs assessments are very simply, a survey of needs within a particular community or area of social concern. This could include a survey of social needs within a particular geographic location, within a particular demographic community, or within a particular service community (for example, substance abuse treatment providers).

Community needs assessments can benefit an organization and community over the long-term in following ways:   

Identifying gaps in service: Needs assessments can identify areas within specific an area of concern where there are significant gaps in service. For example, within a particular town there may be several high-school dropouts and while such a large area of concern could be attributed to a variety of factors, it may be found that in this particular community that no after-school or tutoring program exists to assist older students who are struggling with assignments or school work. An organization operating a small elementary after-school program may want to seek funding to expand this service to address the gap among high-school youth.     

Identifying strengths & weaknesses in service: Needs assessments can also identify strengths and weaknesses in service. For example, the same need assessment could not only identify that a tutoring program is needed for high-school youth, but that the organization seeking to expand a small after-school program to address this need also has a great need to update their computer hardware and software to be compatible with projects assigned in high-school. Or, it could be found that when elementary after-school students were interviewed it was found that they enjoyed the recreational components of the program. Such a service could be replicated, enhanced and designed for high-school youth.     

Contributing to a larger body of literature: Of particular significance is the possibility of needs assessments contributing to a larger body of literature. Again, using the example above, it could also be found through a needs assessment that there is very little published research on the benefits of recreational components in after-school programs. This organization now has the opportunity to disseminate the information they have learned to a larger community of scholars, activists and service members.     

Strengthening requests for funding & marketing efforts: Original research and research that is specific to a particular location, demographic group or area of social concern is attractive to funders as it gives them a tangible reason to invest in a cause or program, rather than broad statistics that may or may not be completely reflective of a program, community or service.     

Contributing to the maximization of resources: Needs assessments can also assist in maximizing a program or organization’s resources. Once again using the example above, in the same survey of elementary students participating in the after-school program it was found that one particular computer learning tool was not effective or liked by the student. Utilizing the many benefits of a needs assessment, the organization seeking to expand services to high-school youth could choose to not use this computer program and utilize the funds designated for this software elsewhere.

List of Social Research Guides

The Basics of Social Research by Earl Babbie. Thompson-Wadsworth Press.
 www.socialresearchmethods.net
www.mrs.org.uk/mrindustry/downloads/newcomers.pdf
www.vts.intute.ac.uk/tutorial/socialresearchmethods/

Funding Resources for Research

The Foundation Center www.fdncenter.org
Federal Agency Grants www.grants.gov
National Science Foundation www.nsf.gov
Office of Extramural Research www.nih.gov/grants
Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation www.hfg.org/rg/guidlines.htm