Nonprofits are often the first to respond when communities are in crisis, but all too often a lack of behind-the-scenes resources makes it hard for them to do that essential work. Pro bono can help provide those resources and ultimately increase their impact.
We’re breaking down our nonprofit resource, Building Resiliency Through Pro Bono, project-by-project to highlight how working with volunteers on capacity-building projects can grow nonprofit impact. Check out our previous project highlights on pitch deck, pricing exercise, finance strategy and our latest installment below: partnering with a skilled volunteer to go through a program evaluation.
Want to jump right in? Request a program evaluation project on Taproot Plus.
How will a program evaluation help your organization build resiliency?
Telling the story of your organization’s mission and measuring the impact of your work becomes even more important in times of financial uncertainty or fluctuating funding. Work with professionals to audit your current program evaluation practices and create a more effective impact measurement process. This process can encompass reviewing surveys, conducting user interviews, assessing data practices, and more. Or use volunteer support to launch a feedback gathering strategy and evaluation process for one of the new services you launched due to current crises.
45% of nonprofits report launching new programs or services as a result of COVID related community needs.
Source: Taproot Foundation 2020 Nonprofit Resiliency Survey
How long will this project take to complete?
A typical pro bono program evaluation project takes between 42-50 hours to complete. It’s good to remember that your volunteer partner will be sharing around two to five hours of their time with your team per week. Once you’ve completed your program evaluation project, our Common Pro Bono Projects Catalogue is a great resource for finding the right next steps for continuing to build your organization’s capacity.
Any other tips on making the most of this pro bono project?
Connect with your volunteer partner to discuss the data or community feedback you’ll want to pull into this program evaluation overhaul or brainstorm ways you can start collecting this information for the future.
What other related projects can I knock off my to-do list using pro bono?
- Stakeholder Research
- Data Analytics
- Business Planning: Logic Model
