I need to hear from you. What are the best ways you tell your story? How do you put a face on what you are doing? Yes, letters, surveys, follow up… how do you show that you are working towards changing your community?
Friday the 13th was a good day.
By the end of the day, there was no doubt that the people at the table of the RPC task force really believe that the RPC program is a tremendous value for NYS and our biggest problem is articulating what we do
The purpose of the meeting, put forward by DHCR agenda was
Articulate what constitutes success and consider ways to measure outcomes
I had hoped, based on our discussions since the last meeting, that what we needed to move towards an agreement that the program should be accountable to document its value and that we agree to use an accountability measurement tool (to be decided by the committee at a later date) that measures both some outcomes (changes) in community needs (through our good work measured in quantitative outputs and described in objectives) and measures outcomes or changes in non profit community based delivery capacity (through technical assistance, stability in resources both human and financial and organizational development) These all can be measured, quantified and show the impact of the program in real terms and through doing so, allows us to better advocate for RPCs by telling our story much better than we have able to do in the past.
By brainstorming on our external community needs, and internal needs of the RPCs and DHCR to effectively administer this program, I think we got there. We are looking at a logic model as a tool that can be customized to the RPC Program specifically. It has to be broad enough to include a large variety of responses to needs you have identified.
Don’t groan yet! Here is where you come in- please be part of this discussion by letting me know how you define success. Remember your first ribbon cutting? The first time you received funding for a program you spent years planning? We need to keep that enthusiasm fresh after 30 years! Not an easy task. If you let me know the best way you collect information and translate that to your community it will help to develop a tool you are comfortable with. The last thing anyone wants is a new, meaningless, incomprehensible form. (need I go on??) Let me know if you don’t want your comments to be published- that’s fine too.
NEW YORK STATE RURAL ADVOCATES 
In a way it would be like a map, and a long line of events, accomplishments and LOADS of hard work that got you to this point.
It would be an amazing way to measure distance…something to go and look at to stay motivated.
Mostly just trying out the system/
So much of this is cyclical, but our greatest strength is in the quality of our outcomes. not just # of home buyers, but the # of successful homebuyers. How many are still in their home 5 years later, how few (hopefully) have refinanced their home with a predatory loan. How many foreclosured or evictions were averted by financial counseling and advocacy
We have been working at collecting testimonials from our clients. It started because we had board members who were not able to be the kind of ambassadors we need without having the personal stories of need and positive impact. Through the capturing of individual cases and responses, we were also documenting our collaborations with other organizations, and specific ongoing needs. Signed release statements for before & after, people & project photographs have become a higher priority and we spend time evaluating and talking about what makes a good photograph. This is an ongoing process and we hope to gather a rich file of documents and photos that can serve a variety of needs.