Does your year-end impact report have your nonprofit staff stressed out? It doesn’t have to be so hard.

Is your coalition or community nonprofit in a rut? Try this to engage the community.

Discover the essential "ingredients" for effective evaluation in nonprofits and community work. Learn how to choose meaningful metrics that align with your mission, build trust, and showcase impact. Start telling your organization’s story with data that matters.

In the nonprofit world, making an impact is just as important as knowing how to measure it—and that’s where a good evaluation plan comes in. It’s more than just numbers; it’s about getting a clear picture of how your work is affecting the people and communities you care about.

Understanding the impact of your programs isn’t just about collecting data; it’s about truly grasping how effective your efforts are and where improvements are needed. That’s where evaluation comes in. It’s not just a tool; it’s essential for enhancing the effectiveness of the great work you do in the communities you serve.

Understanding the impact of your programs isn’t just about collecting data; it’s about truly grasping how effective your efforts are and where improvements are needed. That’s where evaluation comes in. It’s not just a tool; it’s essential for enhancing the effectiveness of the great work you do in the communities you serve.

Understanding the impact of your programs isn’t just about collecting data; it’s about truly grasping how effective your efforts are and where improvements are needed. That’s where evaluation comes in. It’s not just a tool; it’s essential for enhancing the effectiveness of the great work you do in the communities you serve.

We have been busy the last few months, working in some of our rural Georgia communities. We love building coalition and evaluation capacity.

I love facilitating groups and am always looking for new ways to engage hashtag#community groups. In this post, I share some inspiration using my stash of card decks all designed to inspire. Let me know if you use them or if you have another favorite.

Today, I want to share a series that the Hidden Brain podcast is doing, called Us 2.0.

The first episode in the series is “What We Have in Common” and explores why we feel the way we do about people with differing political views with psychologist Kurt Gray.

Episode 2 in the series is, “Win Hearts, then Minds.” Sociologist Robb Willer shares the common mistakes we make in trying to persuade others.

This week, the 3rd episode is “Living with Our Differences” and features psychologist Peter Coleman. Dr. Coleman studies conflict and how disagreements become intractable and what we can do about it.

As we are all painfully aware, we are living in a time when conversations with others can be HARD. Impossible even. Seems like the most innocent of conversations can turn political these days.

Are we all just primed to argue?

But I bet you also have experienced the power of a healing conversation. Maybe when you were in an argument with a loved one, but you stayed in the moment. You heard them and they heard you.

You are someone with a huge desire to make a difference and move your coalition to action. Effective meetings will get your community excited about being part of the change.

Here is one activity I often use when I facilitate a community meeting or training.

Focus groups and surveys are often the first thing people think of when they think about evaluation. I want to encourage you to get creative with youth engagement in your community work and evaluation. In this post, I share an alternative to traditional focus groups.

Since last year I failed miserably at my goal to transition to a 4-day work week, I decided to travel more in 2023 and take longer weekends more frequently. This past fall, I traveled to Shenandoah National Park. This is #10 out of 63 NPs for me.

Life teaches us so many lessons if we just open our hearts, minds, and spirit a bit.

I will take these 3 lessons with me as I continue to work in communities. Perhaps they will resonate with you as well.

Reflecting on AEA 2023 and our coalition workshop. No more death by powerpoint.

It’s our birthday!

Don’t try and “fix” a community. They have all the wisdom they need.