Try This Archives - Page 5 of 11 - Nicole Clark Consulting

23 Mar, 2022

Try This: Reproductive Justice & Program Design

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2022-03-23T13:02:14-04:00March 23rd, 2022|Categories: Program, Service, & Campaign Design|Tags: Monitoring and Evaluation, program design, reproductive justice, Try This|0 Comments

Try this activity, and let me know how it goes for you.

I partnered with a client organization to engage staff and board of directors in understanding the Reproductive Justice framework, and its application to organizational programming and other areas respective areas.

We started with a RJ 101 session in December 2021, followed by a more advanced training for staff in January 2022.

During the January training, each program was presented, and we discussed, using the insights from the RJ 101 training, how each program currently embodies RJ values and principles OR how the program can apply these values and principles.

In comparison to the Reproductive Health and Rights models, Reproductive Justice is an organizing framework, prioritizing intersectionality and the leadership of communities of color and other marginalized identities to challenge and change structural inequities (Forward Together, 2005).

While the RJ framework is easy to understand and more relevant compared to the “pro choice” vs “pro life” debate, strategizing how to apply the framework outside of traditional community organizing contexts can be a challenge.

So, how can your programs prioritize the voices and leadership of the communities your organization supports?

This activity is ideal for:

Anyone responsible for developing programs and services
Anyone responsible for leading and participating in program evaluation activities

Here’s what you need:

Set aside a full day (or several days) for strategizing, where you and your staff can work uninterrupted (as we’re still in a pandemic, determine how this will work for an in-person setting or a virtual setting) Make sure to schedule breaks
Whatever setup you use to capture your process (laptop, pen and paper, whiteboard, etc.) but make sure it’s kept in a place that you can refer back to

The steps:

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19 Jan, 2022

Try This: Check In on Your Strategic Plan

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2022-01-19T16:40:42-05:00January 19th, 2022|Categories: Strategic Planning & Sustainability|Tags: Strategic Planning, Try This|0 Comments

*Try this out and let me know how it goes for you.*

On the road to becoming more data driven, and making sense of stakeholder data, organizations use the data to inform their strategic planning process.

A strategic plan, in short, is a written document that outlines an organization’s mission, vision, the context the plan is being developed in, strategic goals and steps for achieving them over a designated period. .

Like logic models, theories of change and similar documents, the process for developing a strategic plan can be tedious. As such, there’s more focus on getting the document “just right” as less on how to use the document to guide your work.

When you don’t have a plan for checking in on your strategic plan, you run the risk of it sitting on the shelf, collecting dust next to all the evaluation reports that don’t get read.

In all seriousness, a strategic plan is a living document. Each strategic goal has a desired outcome. As we know, life happens, and where we thought we would be may not be where we end up, based on a variety of circumstances. While your strategic plans are set in place, the path for achieving your goals and have shifted since the plan’s implementation. With this understanding, let’s explore how to use your strategic plan as an accountability tool.

This activity is ideal for:

Anyone responsible for leading a strategic planning process
Anyone interested in participating in the strategic planning process

Here’s what you need:

Your organization’s strategic plan
Whatever setup you use to capture your process (laptop, pen and paper, whiteboard, etc.) but make sure it’s kept in a place that you can refer back to

The steps:

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27 Oct, 2021

Try This: Prioritizing Data Findings

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-10-27T14:58:54-04:00October 27th, 2021|Categories: Research & Evaluation|Tags: Data Sense-Making, Stakeholders, Try This|0 Comments

On the road to becoming grassroots and data driven, it’s tempting to start collecting data as soon as possible to determine your impact.

From funders and program participants to community leaders and policy makers, data you’ve gleaned from focus groups, informant interviews, and surveys juggle voices and perspectives of many stakeholders.

But once you have all this data, what do you do with it? And how do you prioritize these voices?

Here are 3 ways (from easy-to-do to more time-consuming) to prioritize your data findings.

This activity is ideal for:

Anyone responsible for leading data sense making processes
Anyone interested in participating in data sense making processes
Anyone interested in applying evaluative thinking into their work

Here’s what you need:

Whatever setup you use to capture your ideas (laptop, pen and paper, whiteboard, etc.) but make sure it’s kept in a place that you can refer back to

The steps:

(more…)

21 Jul, 2021

Try This: The RFP “YES” Checklist

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T21:11:52-04:00July 21st, 2021|Categories: Consulting|Tags: consulting, Equity, Try This|0 Comments

*Try this out and let me know how it goes.*

Last week, I posed 7 questions to consider before sending out a Request for Proposals (RFP) to evaluate whether your organization’s process for securing consultants is equitable.

Also occurring last week, I responded to a RFP. There were several reasons why I responded (knowing the person who sent it, interest in working with the organization, having the skillset needed, the project focus, etc.). However, I responded because this RFP:

Was clear, concise, and outlined everything I needed to know
Included the statement: “In line with our focus on equity and evaluation, we aim to reduce the burden on interested applicants.”
Limited the proposal to 5-7 pages
Was explicit in requesting proposals from independent consultants as well as partners
Included in the proposal requirements: “A brief work plan of the steps you propose, which we recognize are subject to change”
Lists the qualifications they’re looking for, but also stated they understood that no applicant or proposal will meet all qualifications
Specified that the proposal submission is the first step in a longer conversation with their time, with a small number of applicants being asked to have a brief phone call with the team
Didn’t request additional documents (most likely because they knew they would’t read through them)
The project sounds really interesting

What’s most impressive is that this RFP came from a philanthropic organization. When I emailed my proposal, I complimented the staff on how equitable their RFP was. The only thing the RFP didn’t disclose was the budget (and last week’s post shares why disclosing it is important.)

Regardless of the selection outcome, I hope this is the start of organizations developing more RFP equitable practices.

What makes you say “YES!” to responding to a Request for Proposals (RFP)?

Do you have a standard list of requirements? Are they consistent across RFPs, or do you make considerations based on situational factors?

Let’s create your RFP “YES!” checklist.

This activity is ideal for:

Anyone wanting a proactive approach to considering whether to submit a response to a Request for Proposals (RFPs).
Anyone responsible for creating RFPs

Here’s what you need:

Whatever setup you use to capture your ideas (laptop, pen and paper, whiteboard, etc.) but make sure it’s kept in a place that you can refer back to

The steps:

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21 Oct, 2020

Try This: A Simple Way to Get Program Feedback

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2025-08-18T10:24:31-04:00October 21st, 2020|Categories: Research & Evaluation|Tags: program design, program evaluation, Try This|0 Comments

I enjoy coming up with things on the fly, and today’s Try This is one of those moments.

I was hired by a client organization earlier on in my consulting business to conduct several focus groups for their program participants, all of whom were young high school girls attending a 6-week summer program.

During the first two focus groups, one question I asked was, “What would you change about this program?”

Interestingly, the participants enjoyed the program so much that they didn’t have any ideas on how they could improve the program.

When I got to the last two focus groups, I decided to change the question.

Before I share how I changed the question, let’s make one thing clear: It’s very possible your program participants really do enjoy your program, and there’s a lot of information to glean from this. But this client organization specifically wanted feedback on how to evolve the program and they noticed that, outside of exclaiming they enjoy the program, participants didn’t give in prior feedback on what they enjoyed and what they’d like to see based on previous evaluations.

In response to my client’s request, I shifted the question.

This activity is ideal for:

Anyone responsible for developing, running and evaluating programs and services
Anyone interested in applying evaluative thinking

Here’s what you need:

Whatever setup you use for focus groups (though this can also be created as a survey, key informant interview, or as a World Cafe)

The steps:

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