program design Archives - Nicole Clark Consulting

8 Jan, 2025

Ask Nicole: Aligning Program Goals With The School Year

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2025-01-07T17:26:16-05:00January 8th, 2025|Categories: Workshop, Program, & Curriculum Design|Tags: Academics, Ask Nicole, program design, School|0 Comments

Have a question you’d like to be featured? Let me know.

Whether you’re running a K-12 after-school tutoring program or a college-level leadership initiative, aligning your goals with the academic calendar can be game changing.

The school year is full of built-in milestones—like holiday breaks, midterms, and the start of new semesters—that naturally shape your planning and communication. Depending on how the program is structured (whether it’s year round or semester based), you have enough flexibility to be in tune with your school’s schedule, making it easier to pivot when surprises pop up, without losing sight of what you set out to accomplish.

Here are some tips for adjusting your program goals to the school schedule, and how you can use the school year as a framework to stay on track to meet your program goals.

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3 Sep, 2024

Ask Nicole: Balancing Participant Feedback & Staff Capacity

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2024-12-23T14:42:45-05:00September 3rd, 2024|Categories: Workshop, Program, & Curriculum Design|Tags: Ask Nicole, program design, program evaluation, staff capacity|0 Comments

Have a questions you’d like to be featured? Let me know.

In order to evaluate a program, I start by speaking to staff in charged of running the program.

This helps me understand why the program exists, the ideal participants, program goals, activities, outreach, etc. This helps to develop an evaluation process that’s appropriate to the program’s goals.

This process also helps in providing programmatic recommendations. Even though participant feedback is key to program improvements, so is understanding staff capacity to make these changes.

Navigating grantee-funder relationships while staying true to your mission is complex.

Similarly, it can be a balancing act when staff have to prioritize program participant feedback.

Here are five recommendations to help programmatic staff balance participant feedback with their capacity to implement changes:

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7 Aug, 2024

Ask Nicole: The Four Keys to Flexible Programs

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2024-08-07T12:51:39-04:00August 7th, 2024|Categories: Workshop, Program, & Curriculum Design|Tags: Ask Nicole, program design|0 Comments

In the ever-changing landscape of community needs, having a solid yet adaptable framework is crucial for organizations aiming to make a significant impact.

What is a framework?

A framework is a strategic guide that outlines clear goals, structured plans, and collaborative efforts while leaving room for flexibility. This helps organizations remain focused and organized, ensuring that all activities align with their mission.

More importantly, a well-designed framework supports organizations’ ability to quickly adapt to emerging challenges and opportunities, fostering resilience and sustained community engagement.

There are four keys to building flexible programs:

Assess community needs and resources
Design adaptable program structures
Build robust community partnerships
Monitor, evaluate, and adapt for improvement

Let’s start with the first key:

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10 Jan, 2024

Bringing Your Program to a New Community

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2024-01-09T20:49:50-05:00January 10th, 2024|Categories: Workshop, Program, & Curriculum Design|Tags: Capacity Building, community engagement, program design|0 Comments

A major barrier to introducing a new program to a community is pushback.

From staff concerns to not assessing whether the program is needed, failure to determine if your program is the right fit for a new community can lead to negative outcomes for the program and for your organization.

Bringing a new program to a community your organization has no relationship with requires careful consideration and a thoughtful approach. Here are key factors to keep in mind:

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4 Jan, 2024

Ask Nicole: We’re Facing Pushback For Expanding Our Programs

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2024-01-09T18:24:15-05:00January 4th, 2024|Categories: Workshop, Program, & Curriculum Design|Tags: Ask Nicole, Capacity Building, Partnerships, program design, Sustainability|0 Comments

There comes a point in the life of an organization where it considers expanding its programs and services.

This strategic move can open up new possibilities, build and strengthen community bonds, and enhance overall effectiveness, including:

Becoming responsive to emerging community and societal needs
Onboarding of more staff and volunteers
Receiving more funding
Generating opportunities to connect to a more expansive collaborative network
Shifting from in-person to online

While the idea of expanding your organization’s programs can be tempting, many organizations venture into uncharted territory without being intentional about WHY and HOW they expand.

This leads to pushback from other organizations, community members, and even staff.

There’s different levels to pushback against program expansion. Here are two ways to look at it:

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Ask Nicole: Aligning Program Goals With The School Year

Ask Nicole: Balancing Participant Feedback & Staff Capacity

Ask Nicole: The Four Keys to Flexible Programs

Bringing Your Program to a New Community

Ask Nicole: We’re Facing Pushback For Expanding Our Programs

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