RESEARCH AND EVALUATION SERVICES

PROGRAM EVALUATION

Evaluations as a rule, should be conducted by an external Ph.D. credentialed social scientist. There are several considerations to take into account before selecting an evaluator. Links to selected articles which offer selection guidelines have been provided through the Support Center of Washington DC; Higher education center, and The Juvenile Justice Evaluation Center.

Nowadays, "outcome measures" and "performance measurement" are buzzwords you often hear in both the public and private sector. As economic resources to support non-profit ventures become more difficult to obtain, the need to provide public accountability is more critical than ever. Everyone ranging from small private foundations to the federal government are requiring assessments and reports on the performance of organizations, departments, programs, and projects. In a nutshell, organizations have the burden of providing proof that indeed they are delivering the services they were give money to support. Scientifically based and statically sound outcome evaluations are also critical for identifying ways in which programs can be modified and strengthened, thus improving chances for receiving continuation of funding in subsequent years.

There is no universally accepted term for measuring organizational performance. As a result, many terms such as productivity, work measurement, and effectiveness have been used interchangeably with 'performance measurement'. Performance measurement provides the insight to evaluating organizational activities and resulting outcomes. We conduct a wide spectrum of evaluation services including quantitative, qualitative, formative, outcome, impact, and cost-benefit analysis. We will utilize standard data (e.g. GPRA and will create or modify original study instruments to meet your organization's specific needs. CMG can conduct short-term, one-time evaluations, and can also be contracted long-term for the entire duration of a Federally funded program.

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NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Community-wide needs assessments play a major role in raising grants and other funding sources. CMG is able to conduct needs assessments across the United States in all population regions ranging from rural areas to large metropolitan centers. CMG can assist in providing clear documentation of need for your program to potential funding sources.

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INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD (IRB)

CMG plans to offer Institutional Review Board (IRB) services effective September 1, 2005. CMG will extend this service to non-profit organizations needing prompt (IRB) approval to pursue federally funded social and behavioral research studies and evaluations. All reviewers on the IRB team will be degreed and licensed professionals in their respective field (health, ethics, law etc.) and will be certified as human subjects research reviewers by the National Institutes of Health. CMG will strive to deliver expedient, culturally competent, and cost effective reviews while also supporting the goals, objectives and time-line of the client organization. Please note that CMG will not review clinical protocols requiring medical interventions.

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DEVELOPMENT SERVICES

RESEARCH FOR FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

We will conduct a comprehensive search to identify federal, state, and foundation grant opportunities for your program. We guarantee to identify a minimum of 25 viable sources of program funding. We will have grant guidelines sent directly to your organization, and will write up to 10 letters of inquiry to prospective funders on your organization's behalf. There is a set fee of $750 for this service. CMG requires 30 days to complete this process.

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GRANT WRITING

Our company will write and develop private foundation, corporate, city, state and federal grants for asking ranges between $20,000 to multi-year/multi-million dollar grants. Our services not only focus on writing the text for a winning document, but may also include utilizing needs assessments, brainstorming workable solutions, and cultivating goals and objectives. We can also assist in drafting an evaluation plan, which is often the weakest section of grant proposal submissions.

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GRANTS EDITING AND CRITIQUE

For organizations planning to write their own grant proposals, we offer an editing and reviewing service. It helps to have other visionaries evaluate your work and make sure that your grant proposal is not only strong, but is consistent with what RFP or grant guidelines request. We also can offer "mock" scoring of your proposal in accordance with Federal, State and/or Foundation requirements. We will also provide you with a list of suggestions to strengthen your proposal and to earn a higher score. In addition, we offer the optional service of editing for spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors.

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TEMPLATE (BOILERPLATE) DEVELOPMENT

Every organization needs to have a boilerplate proposal for part of their development strategy to raise foundation funding. Our group can create a grant proposal boilerplate which can be modified to create hundreds or more foundation grants.

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MEDIA PROMOTION/PRESS RELEASES

Do you want others to know about your organization's successes or impact on the community? CMG can assist your organization with writing effective press releases using needs assessment or performance data that we (or others) have collected for your organization. Creating a positive media presence is strategically helpful for capturing public attention, private donations, grant funding, and building relationships with other constituents.

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NON-PROFIT START-UP ASSISTANCE

CMG can assist in helping your organization establish non-profit status. Our comprehensive package includes filing for non-profit incorporation certificates in your state, applying for an EIN (Employer Identification Number), assisting in organizing a board of directors, and clarifying your mission, non- discrimination statements, and organizational by-laws. This will help provide the groundwork needed to file for Federal (501c3) tax-exempt status.

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COMPUTER/TECHNICAL SERVICES

WEB DESIGN

According to ITFacts.biz, by the end of 2004, there were over 70 million website domains registered worldwide. Over 5 million new domains were registered during the 3rd quarter of 2004 alone. This translates into more than 2,300 new domains purchases every 60 minutes. Society is rapidly becoming more information and technology based, thus making your organization's presence on the world wide web critical for securing both financial support and success.

Websites are an efficient and cost effective way to communicate your organizations missions, goals, objectives and achievements to the world, and is a viable tool for networking with the community and other service providers. CMG's principal web designer has successfully designed, developed and maintained websites for for-profit businesses and non-profit organizations since 1995. Our diverse backgrounds in research and marketing help make websites a unique tool for fundraising, generating business, and increasing constituent and membership support.

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CERTIFICATE TRAINING WORKSHOPS

CMG provides training to those interested in acquiring basic grant writing and outcome measurement skills. Skill building trainings are particularly valuable for organizations with a small staff and limited budget and provide an opportunity for existing staff at all levels to collectively create a grant proposal and/or program evaluation plans, which can actually be implemented. To maximize the learning experience, we require that training spaces be equipped with computers with access to the internet and software including Microsoft word, power point and excel. Those who attend the entire training workshop will receive a certificate of completion. Courses include:

Grant-writing Fundamentals

This two-day workshop provides a practical step-by-step approach to the nuts and bolts of grant writing. Participants will begin with how to identify funding sources and will work through all of the groundwork for successfully completing the grant project.

Participants will learn the fundamentals of how to:

• Develop a proposal idea
• Find a funding source
• Write a letter of inquiry
• Create an argument for need
• Create an evaluation protocol
• Maximize the appeal of your project description
• Incorporate resources and collaborations to leverage your proposal
• Build a program or project budget
• Bring it all together to write a persuasive and winning proposal

Program Evaluation Basics

Is your program actually doing what the mission states its doing? Are you meeting your goals and objectives? Are you providing the deliverables that satisfy the expectations of your clients, constituents, government and private funders?

Participants will learn how to unleash their creativity while learning some basic tools for measuring the performance of their project, program or organization. Provide yourselves, constituents, and funders with measured answers. Participants will learn the fundamentals of understanding how to:

• Decide what to measure
• Approach the task of "measuring" data
• Differentiate between formative versus outcome evaluation
• Differentiate between outputs, outcomes, and impact
• Approach quantitative versus qualitative research techniques
• Conduct a focus group
• Conduct observational studies
• Develop or identify a research instrument
• Collect, manage and analyze data
• Create power point graphics based on data
• Write an evaluation report
• Use evaluation data to strengthen your program

Organizations can also approach the workshops as an opportunity to create their own development and/or program evaluation plans which they can actually implement. Participants may represent more than one organization, however, attendance is limited to 10.

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