I reviewed some of the proposals that have been submitted for funding from
the aspects of concrete goals. I have a background in United States Human
Service charities as an Operations Manager and database administrator. One
of the most challenging activities for an agency is to identify goals in a
manner that is meaningful to all constituents and can be tracked. If a goal
cannot be defined with an action statement and specific target numbers and
the result that proves the target numbers, then the goal language must be
modified and/or the result that proves the goal changed. At the time of
goal identification the tracking methods should be determined and reviewed
for feasibility.
A goal should be so clearly written that anyone who is a member of the
organization understands how to collect the data that proves the goal. A
common failing is creating goals that sound really impressive but are so
vague that the people responsible for doing the work and collecting the
data don't know which activity proves the goal and what form or question or
whatever, they have to do to get the information back to the Main Office.
(And "don't they understand that I am very busy and who reads this, and oh
lord, what did I do last time I filled out this form and ...")
For example: Efforts will be made to increase the participation of women
and other minorities in monthly workshops by 30%. This goal will be
verified by sign-in sheets that ask for gender and (ethnicity, cultural
group or whatever concrete statistic defines the goal).
>From an operations standpoint the sign-in sheets should be sent to the Main
office after every workshop, the results tabulated and reported to the
appropriate constituents. At minimum, the board and the sponsoring group
should receive feedback on goals on a quarterly basis. This keeps the goals
in front of everybody and lets everyone know what progress is being is
being towards achieving those goals while there is still time to improve
their methods.
The most effective grants I worked with tied achievable goals to monetary
rewards. If quarterly goals weren't met, future financial allocations were
jeopardized and indeed, in cases of egregious inactivity, programs lost
funding mid-fiscal year.
The preceeding goal language was created in a vacuum without consultation
with any constituents in the space of approx. one hour and is to be used
only as an example.
Organizations tend to use too many words to describe what they are trying
to accomplish. Grant language must be straight-forward and easily
understood. If the average user/volunteer/staff member doesn't understand
the goals at first reading then further refining is of the highest
importance
Please let me know if there is anything I can do to be of service.
Regards,
Nora (Norawashere)