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)