Pilot Opportunity for Using Data and Evaluation to Advance Comprehensive Community Initiatives in Pittsburgh and CONNECT Communities

Grant Purpose

In 2012, a group of foundations contracted with Mt. Auburn Associates to undertake an assessment of the community development support system in the City of Pittsburgh. Established with funding from city government, financial institutions and local and national foundations, Pittsburgh created support organizations and intermediaries in the early ‘80s to build a network of innovative community development corporations to improve neighborhoods primarily through real estate development. While the community development system in Pittsburgh has achieved significant improvements for some neighborhoods, including increased market values and an expanded tax base for the city, not all residents or all neighborhoods have shared in these successes.

Pittsburgh is not alone in these results. Community development practitioners increasingly are incorporating strategies that focus on people as well as place: creating places that offer positive environments to ensure that residents of varied income levels are provided the opportunities and tools to build assets, participate in their communities and become part of the mainstream economy. The most forward practitioners have also realized they must connect the neighborhood-based activities to the larger institutional systems such as education, transportation, and workforce and economic development that provide jobs and affect the economic well-being of residents. This more current practice requires more comprehensive interventionsbased on good data, networks of providers, and a way of measuring results.

Funders have engaged the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and Success Measures (SM) of NeighborWorks America to work with organizations in Pittsburgh to test new ways of collecting, accessing and using data for planning, decision-making and evaluative purposes. Through theBuilding Sustainable Communities initiative, LISC is evaluating progress on five programmatic domains (expanding investment in housing and other real estate; increasing family income and wealth;stimulating economic development; improving access to quality education; and supporting healthy environments and lifestyles) in 100 neighborhoods. SM has built the capacity of more than 550 community-based organizations to plan and implement outcome focused evaluations by drawing from a set of over 250 indicators and data collection instruments that measure results for people and places.

We wish to develop a pilot project for three community based organizations and their partners to work with LISC, Success Measures and local data intermediaries such as the Pittsburgh Neighborhood and Community Information System(PNCIS) todevelop and test a data use and evaluation framework for measuring key indicators of healthy communities. Three major data uses are contemplated: 1) assessing the social, economic, market and related contexts of neighborhoods; 2) tracking key performance and outcome indicators of healthy communities at baseline and over time; and 3) informing neighborhood planning, project development and collaborative strategy development among organizations, public agencies and funders.

The LISC/SM project team and local data intermediaries such as the Pittsburgh Neighborhood and Community Information System (PNCIS) will provide hands-on technical assistance to 3 selected organizations and their partners over a twelve month period to plan and implement their projects including support for data collection, assembly, analysis and initial use. The supported projectinvolves:

  • Identifying a current program, project or planning effort (designed to advance comprehensive approaches to community issues) that would be strengthened by better access to and use of data and evaluation.
  • Clarifying your project’s goals, expected results and related data and evaluation needs
  • Developing a plan to collect, analyze and use data to advance your program, project or planning effort.
  • Incorporating secondary data from sources such as the federal U.S. Census, American Community Survey, or Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and local sources such as human service, education, property or business tax or jobs informationinto the effort.
  • Coordinating primary data collection (neighborhood surveys or observations, client interviews) with data intermediary, staff and volunteers.
  • Analyzing data and examining what it means in the context of your community and its programs.
  • Hosting a community forum on results of the survey.
  • Working with your staff and board of directors to incorporate data results into daily work including planning, decision-making, evaluation and proposal writing

The pilot will also test data sharing and management processes and existing technologies. It will conclude with an assessment of lessons learned from the pilot and how these could be applied in other neighborhoods and for different stakeholders’ interests.

Benefits for Participating Organizations

The funders would like to support interested nonprofit organizations, either working individually or in collaboration with other organizations, to participate in the Data Use and Evaluation Pilot. The selected organizations will receive the following support to plan and implement the pilot.

Technical assistance to: 1) clarify the key goals, intended results and evaluation questions for the program, project or planning effort organizations select to strengthen through better use of data and measurement; 2) identify the kinds of data and measures needed to inform and evaluate their projects; 3) access, collect and analyze that information; and 5) actively use data to advance comprehensive approaches to community issues.

Neighborhood Profiles that summarize the key nationally and locally-available administrative data on the economic and social conditions in the communities targeted by the selected organizations’ projects, programs or planning efforts.

Technology support through access to the Success Measures Data System (SMDS) to manage primary level data that organizations choose to collect such as surveys, property observations or interviews.

Grants of up to $15,000 to help defray the staffing or related costs involved in carrying out the activities related to the Pilot.

Evaluation Criteria and Use of Funds

In awarding support, an advisory group including funders, consultants, and data intermediaries, will examine the extent to which the application: 1) clearly identifies how an organization’s program, project or planning effort to advance comprehensive approaches to community issuescould benefit from the data use and evaluation services offered through the pilot; 2) demonstrates how the organization(s) serve and are reflective of the community; 3) demonstrates a commitment to carrying out the project by the organization’s leadership, and the leadership of any relevant partners, 4) provides a project plan to participate in the defined scope of work according to the timeline and estimated budget.

Eligibility

An organization is eligible to apply for these funds if it:

  • Is located in the City of Pittsburgh or in one of the CONNECT communities
  • Is a 501-c-3
  • Has board and staff reflective of the community/ies it serves
  • Has a track record of partnering with other organizations/agencies
  • Demonstrates a real need for advancing data-based planning, decision-making and evaluation
  • Values resident engagement
  • Is able to assign a lead person who:
  • is able to plan and manage the project to complete it within one year of award
  • is supported by organizational leadership
  • has the ability to make use of technical assistance and work with partners
  • Agrees to continue to implement the data collection/evaluation system in the year after the pilot is completed
  • Agrees to participate in a learning network

Application Process

Organizations interested in applying should:

  1. Complete the attached brief proposal form and budget.
  2. Demonstrate organizational buy-in by providing letter(s) with Executive Director and Board Chair signatures indicating commitment to using the Pilot results to inform comprehensive community strategies.
  3. Please submit proposal form, budget and support letter(s) by 5:00 pm on March 14 to:

Jane Downing,

Senior Program Officer, Economic and Community Development

The Pittsburgh Foundation

Five PPG Place, Suite 250, Pittsburgh, PA 15222

For additional information contact Jane Downing, r Laurel Randi . Funders include representatives from The Heinz Endowments; McAuley Ministries; and the Birmingham, Buhl, Hunt, McCune, Pittsburgh and POISE Foundations; City Planning Department and the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

Pilot Opportunity for Using Data and Evaluation to Advance

Comprehensive Community Initiatives in Pittsburgh and CONNECT Communities

Proposal Form

(You may expand the space provided for each question, but please limit your overall response to no more than 5 pages)

1.Project Description: Please briefly describe a current program, project or planning effort based on comprehensive approaches to community issues that you would like to strengthen through enhanced access to and more effective use of data and evaluation.

2.Connection to Community/Organizational Plan: How is the identified project aligned with an adopted community or organizational plan that is designed to enhance outcomes for community residents?

3.Interest: Why is your organization or collaborative interested in participating in the Pilot project and what do you hope to achieve as a result? In addition, please let us know what you would hope to get out of your participation in terms of new capacities, knowledge, partnerships, or other organizational strengths.

4. Organizational Capacity: Please provide an example that you feel best describes your organization’s or collaborative’s experience and ability to plan and manage a special project like this. In addition, please identify who (name and title/organization of the person) will serve as the project manager.

5.Experience in Using Data and Tracking Results: Please describe your organization’s or collaborative’s experience in using data and measuring results within your current programs or planning efforts.

6. Budget: How would you use the $15,000 grant to support implementation of the data use and evaluation Pilot?

Budget Category / Amount
Staff Salaries
Consultants
Materials/supplies
Other (describe)
Total

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