United Way Logic model presentation

Editor's Notes

• #3 Thank youNot only for work you do in communityBut also for inviting me to come and share my experience and talents.My family has financially supported UW for many, many years.So happy to get to do something fun for United Way – love to share information and help others to achieve their goals.Hope I will help you today!
• #4 Library is a government agency that operates somewhat like a nonprofit due to our funding system.Reinventing Government status – taken from book published in early nineties about improving government called:Reinventing government : how the entrepreneurial spirit is transforming the public sector / David Osborne and Ted Gaebler. So we use an outcomes budget model instead of the traditional line-item budget.Bd. Of Commissioners awards our funds based on the outcomes that we will create with the dollars.Can use funds more flexibly – shift midstream if we need to so that we can focus on outcomes (or results) instead of outputs.If we save funds, get to keep for future years – can build up a savings account.
• #5 Current economy has all of us (LIBRARY INCLUDED) competing against one another for scarce financial resources.Grant writing has become necessary to meet local needs.Since 2007 - have written $ received grants worth $141,763 for library services and programs.Grants for new technology to improve staff efficiency, planning for library services, and to support Big Read community literacy project.Tell you this – not to brag – want you to understand that I am in your shoes! I understand!
• #6 Today we will walk through the process that United Way asks you to follow in requesting funds.The most difficult piece of this process for most agencies is describing your expected outcomes.We will talk about the whole process, but spend a little extra time on outcomes.As you work on your application, so important that you are as clear and concise as you can be.You want the funding group to understand exactly what you intend to do, how you will do it and what you expect your results to be.What change do you expect in your target audience?
• #7 In any funding request, it is crucial that you know the mission and goals of the funder.You should apply only if your agency’s mission and goals can help the funder to achieve their mission and goals.I recommend that you read UW’’s GOALS FOR THE COMMON GOOD THE UNITED WAY CHALLENGE TO AMERICAYou can download a print copy at the web site listed or there is an online interactive piece to view.You want to make sure that you fit into UW’s 3 impact areas: Education, Income, and HealthAnd how do your mission/goals dovetail with those of UW – collaboration and partnership. Powerful partnerships.
• #8 United Way uses a tool called the “logic model” to help you clarify the rationale behind your program.Most of you have seen this already.Excellent tool – communicates the underlying parts of a program that should logically create the result/outcome that you hope to achieve.Helps all parties involved understand your plan for success.
• #9 Describe library “bookbagger” program:Library staff selects good children’s books and places them in canvas bags. Preschool teachers can pick up the bags once or twice a month – 15 books per bag.Can request themes.Easy and quick way that busy preschool teachers can get books into the hands of young children.INPUTS= LIBRARY BOOKS, CANVAS BAGS, STAFF TIME TO SELECT AND CHECKOUT BAGS.Quantitative units.
• #10 With Bookbaggers:Market the program to daycares and sign them upHave the bags ready to check out when the teachers come by the library
• #11 Outputs are quantitative measurements of your activities.With Bookbaggers:25 daycares checked out 750 bags of 11,250 books over a 10 month periodStaff spent 84 hours on this project.
• #12 Without fail – this is them most difficult aspect of the logic model to understand and apply.For Bookbaggers:Our outcome = Preschool children will develop a love of books and reading and enter school ready to read, write, and listen.Is our statement specific?Does it state a desired change?Does it list a target population?We can’t cause this outcome through one small library service such as Bookbaggers:Not all preschool children are in daycaresResearch shows that access to books in the not the only factor in helping children to develop a love for books and reading.And… are many early literacy skills that must be developed for children to be prepared to read, write, and listen.So this is a lofty outcomes for us. This is an illustration of the next point in this presentation:That outcomes can have 3 levels or layers of benefits.
• #13 So outcomes can be:Short-TermIntermediateLong-TermNot all programs or services can be designed to create long-term outcomes.We believe strongly in our Bookbaggers program – but we recognize that it cannot create a monumental change in human, economic, civic or environmental conditions.However, providing quality picture books to daycare teachers to use with their children can create a change in the skills of preschool children.Research has shown that young children who are read to have a much stronger chance of being ready to read at the appropriate time in their development.Children learn from handling books; from knowing how to turn the pages; they begin to understand sequencing through stories that move from one action to another; they begin to recognize that the shapes and squiggles on the pages are different and that they mean something and so on and so forth.So our Bookbaggers program can result in short-term outcomes as we seek to change the knowledge and skills of preschool children.And it may also result in intermediate outcomes as we hope to see changes in how children interact with books and how they behave during a story reading.Very difficult to show long-term outcomes for this program as we do not test children for an increase in their skills and we cannot follow them into school to measure their progress.Also – there may be many variables that affect the creation of a long-term outcome – factors that may be out of our hands.We measure what we have access to and in our case, we can survey the daycare teachers and families to see if they notice changes in their children’s knowledge, skills or behavior.So the perception of the teachers and parents is an indicator of whether or not we are creating the outcome that we desire.
• #14 You need to design your evaluation when you create your program so that you will exactly what data to collect and measure.Create a data collection method at the beginning and assign responsibility for measuring and recording task.
• #17 We are going to do a logic model exercise here to help you begin to think about how you will describe your program on the UW application.Please listen carefully: No encouragement that you receive should be considered a guarantee of funding.The community investment committee will award the funds.We are here today to help you understand the process and the clarity with which you need to describe your program.We are here to lend a helping hand to you.