worksheet a · web viewthey are trying to influence (target audience) and what result you want the...

2014 Greater Richmond Association for Volunteer Administration Conference Measuring and Using Outcomes for Volunteer ProgramsJuly 10, 2014

Worksheet AACTIVITIES OF YOUR VOLUNTEERS

If you have different types of volunteers (e.g., client support, visitor relations, fund raising, administrative), pick one type of volunteer to focus on and name it here:

What do these volunteers do? List their activities.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.


Worksheet BRESULTS YOU WANT YOUR VOLUNTEERS TO CREATE

I. Who are the clients/participants/visitors/patrons that the volunteers named in Worksheet A are assigned to help or influence? Whose knowledge/behavior/ condition are these volunteers trying to affect? This is the volunteers’ target audience.

II.Statements of intended outcomes for your volunteers identify both who they are trying to

influence (target audience) and what result you want their activities to create for that audience.

Name the intended outcomes for these volunteers.

If you want these volunteers to achieve more than one result for the same target audience, you will have more than one outcome statement with the same target audience, but each will have a different result.

If you want these volunteers to achieve the same result for more than one target audience, you will have more than one outcome statement with the same result, but each will have a different target audience.

Who (target audience) What (desired result)A.

B.

C.

Examples: elderly residents, young children needing supervised activities, visitors to the gallery of changing exhibitions, gift shop patrons, donors attending a recognition dinner

Examples: Young children needing supervised activities engage safely in age-appropriate games and sports. Visitors to the gallery of changing exhibitions have their questions answered accurately. Gift shop patrons make or increase a purchase.


Worksheet CYOUR IF … THEN CHAIN LINKING

VOLUNTEERS’ ACTIVITIES AND TARGET AUDIENCE OUTCOMES

I. Start by drawing boxes for your intended outcomes from Worksheet B. Place the boxes and use arrows as appropriate to show their relationship. Below are three of many possibilities, depending on how many outcomes you named and how they relate to each other.

II. Now, show which activity(ies) from Worksheet A have a direct influence on each outcome. One example is on the right. There may not be an activity focused on every outcome if you believe that creating one outcome will lead to another outcome without additional activities.

Outcome BOutcome A Outcome C

Outcome A

Outcome B Outcome C

Outcome A

Outcome B

Activities1 & 2

Activities4 & 5

Activity 3

Outcome A

Outcome C

Outcome B


Worksheet DTESTING YOUR IF … THEN CHAIN

I. Examine your “If…then” chain on Worksheet C. Are the outcomes really outcomes? Is the longest-term outcome meaningful for clients/participants/visitors/patrons? Is the logic logical? How likely is it that if volunteers implement the described

activities, then the related outcomes will result?

II. What are your ah-ha’s? For example: Do you need to strengthen or add some activities by these volunteers to increase

the likelihood of achieving an outcome? If so, what is needed? Do you need to scale back an outcome to match the realistic impact of your

volunteers’ activities? If so, what might be a more realistic outcome? Do you need to segment your clients/participants/ visitors/patrons and

tailor volunteer activities for different segments? If so, what segments and activity amendments are needed?


Worksheet EIMPACT YOU WANT TO HAVE ON YOUR VOLUNTEERS

What do you want to be true of the volunteers named in Worksheet A as a result of your volunteer program’s administration activities (training, recognition, etc.)? What do you want to be true of their knowledge/motivation/behavior/status?

Because of our volunteer program’s administration activities, these volunteers will:

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

F.

The volunteers named in Worksheet A are the “who” of statements of intended outcomes for your volunteer program administration activities that focus on those volunteers. Each result you listed above is the “what” for a different outcome.


Worksheet FYOUR IF … THEN CHAIN LINKING

VOLUNTEER PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION ACTIVITIES AND OUTCOMES FOR VOLUNTEERS

I. Referring to Worksheet E, draw boxes for the outcomes of your volunteer program administration activities that focus on the volunteers named in Worksheet A. Place the boxes and use arrows as appropriate to show their relationship. Below are three of many possibilities, depending on how many outcomes you named and how they relate to each other.

II. For each outcome, list the program administration activities intended to produce it. What do you do for or with these volunteers to create this knowledge/motivation/ behavior/status?

Outcome BOutcome A Outcome C

Outcome A

Outcome B Outcome C

Outcome A

Outcome B


Worksheet GTESTING YOUR IF … THEN CHAIN

III. Examine your “If…then” chain on Worksheet F. Are the outcomes really outcomes? Is the longest-term outcome meaningful for volunteers named in Worksheet A? Is the logic logical? How likely is it that if you implement the described activities,

then the related outcomes will result?

IV. What are your ah-ha’s? For example: Do you need to strengthen or add some volunteer program administration

activities to increase the likelihood of achieving the desired impact on volunteers? If so, what is needed?

Do you need to scale back an outcome to match the realistic impact of your activities? If so, what might be a more realistic outcome?

Do you need to further segment your volunteers and tailor activities for different segments? If so, what segments and activity amendments are needed?


Worksheet HINDICATORS, DATA SOURCES AND DATA COLLECTION METHODS FOR YOUR OUTCOMES

Outcome(specific target audience and

specific results sought)

Indicator(s)(specific statistic we will use to

show the extent to which we are achieving the outcome)

Data Source(s)(who/what – records, files, persons – will provide data

on the indicator)

Data Collection Method/Tool(who will obtain the data, how, when,

using what measure)

One outcome of your volunteer program administration activities (Worksheet E):

One outcome of your volunteers’ activities (Worksheet B Section II):

IDENTIFYING YOUR PROGRAM'S OUTCOMES

Clarify:

? Who is the target audience for this set of activities – your clients/customers/ participants/members/service recipients/intended beneficiaries? (e.g., at-risk youth, homebound seniors, long-term substance abusers, older women entering or re-entering the job market)

? What service or set of related activities does your program provide to these individuals? What does it do with them or on their behalf?

Ask yourself:

? What do you want to be true of the target audience during or after your program? What do you want to be able to say about their knowledge, attitudes, skills, behavior, status, or condition?

The answers (e.g., “At-risk teens in the mentoring program recognize that school achievement is necessary to future success”) are your outcomes.

Other questions that are helpful in identifying outcomes are:

? When you conduct your activities, what is the first change you expect will happen for the target audience? If that change occurs, then what change do you hope happens next?

? What do others—clients, parents of intended beneficiaries, referral sources, next-step agencies, etc.—say is the value of your program?

? What does your target audience say about why they come to your program – what they want to get out of it?

In writing an outcome statement, it helps to put the target audience as the subject or “doer” of the outcome. For example:

Adults completing a literacy program are able to read at the sixth-grade level.

Women in the prenatal class know the daily nutritional requirements for a pregnant woman.

Babies of women in the prenatal class are born healthy.

Adults with a history of physical aggression express frustration verbally rather than physically.

Parents use everyday moments to increase their preschoolers’ language and literacy skills.

United Way Worldwide, 2012

IDENTIFYING POSSIBLE OUTCOME INDICATORS

~ Questions to Ask to Generate Options ~

How will we know if the outcome is achieved? What will we see? What can we count or measure?

If you’re stuck, ask:

How will we know if the outcome is not achieved? What will we see?

If we were successful in one instance but not another, how would we know? What would we see in one instance but not the other?

Be specific!

~ Questions to Ask to Test Each Option ~

Does this indicator capture the most important aspect(s) of the outcome?

Do key stakeholders accept it as representing achievement of the outcome?

Is it specific enough to guide different individuals to measure the same thing in the same way?

Is it unlikely that the indicator will be influenced by extraneous factors?


OUTCOME MEASUREMENT PLAN

Name/description of program/activity _____________________________________________________________________________

Outcome(specific target audience and

specific results sought)

Indicator(s)(specific statistic we will use to

show the extent to which we are achieving the outcome)

Data Source(s)(who/what – records, files, persons – will provide data

on the indicator)

Data Collection Method/Tool(who will obtain the data, how, when,

using what measure)


Measuring Program Outcomes: A Practical Approach

v Guides health, human service, and youth- and family-serving agencies through a step-by-step process for:

- specifying program outcomes

- developing measurable indicators

- identifying data sources and data collection methods

- analyzing and reporting findings

- using outcome information to increase service effectiveness and communicate program value

v Demonstrates the use of logic models in clarifying and communicating outcomes.

v Draws on experiences of many types of agencies.

v Includes worksheets, examples, and a bibliography on measurement issues and performance indicators.

170,000 copies in circulation in the U.S. and abroad

170pp. $10 plus shipping & handling

Available from United Way Worldwide Products. Item # 0989. www.uwwproducts.com and enter “0989” into search window, or 800-892-2757 x436.


worksheet a · web viewthey are trying to influence (target audience) and what result you want the...

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