Assessment

Andi is an experienced nonprofit assessor who enjoys helping organizations reflect on their capacity and impact.

Our goal is to provide an insightful, objective, comprehensive look at your organization.

We strive for respectful, positive interactions throughout the process, and develop tailored reports and recommendations that build on your strengths.

Previous clients say the objective viewpoints, detailed research, and professional approach are highly valuable.

How

We perform assessments in three phases:

1) Review documents and records

2) Interviews with staff and board; observe staff and/or board meetings; administer survey(s)

3) Analysis and report writing

We present the final report to key stakeholders at a board meeting (or a combined staff and board meeting). The written report serves as a road map to strengthening the organization, and can be used for several years..

Why

Assessments can be undertaken proactively by organizations and groups. Sometimes they happen with encouragement from funding partners. Sometimes they are required by oversight agencies (state and federal offices).

No matter the reason for an assessment, it’s a valuable exercise that can lead to profound change when organizations invest the time and resources  to discuss the report and implement many of its recommendations.

Types of Assessments Offered

• Organizational assessments
• Community needs assessments (painting a picture of a community and its needs; can be multiple communities)
  
  • Click here to see a summary of our Head Start CNA process
• Program operations
• Staffing
• Governance (boards of directors)
• Administration and fiscal operations*

*Fiscal assessments are not in-depth unless we subcontract with a fiscal expert.

Note: We do not offer formal program evaluations. We can help with more practical program reviews (less scientifically rigorous), which is the type most nonprofits undertake. Formal program evaluations are expensive and time-intensive. We can provide referrals to other experts for those services.

The scope of an assessment can be as narrow as one program, or as broad as the organization or community being studied.

How we address equity

• We deliver assessment reports in English, and translate the executive summaries into Spanish. This is a shared cost in assessment contracts. If the organization serves a significant number of people with a different primary language besides English or Spanish, we negotiate the cost for a second translation to be included in the project.
• When using demographic data sources like the Census and other population studies, we use a more expansive definition of race – “one or more races” instead of “race alone”. It is a more accurate and inclusive definition.
• Equity Lenses – Brief sections of assessment reports (1-2 pages) highlighting the disparities faced by people of color, women, and/or LGTBQ+ individuals in a particular area of focus.
• We ask for the perspective of staff and families served when conducting assessments. Sometimes community partners, too, when a client is able to pay for that level of inquiry.

Experience

From 2020-2023, Andi has focused on developing community needs assessments for Head Start and Early Head Start programs in Oregon. They have completed three assessments in partnership with key staff in Klamath, Lake, Washington, and Multnomah Counties, with another project underway in southwest Portland. These reports combine data with surveys and focus groups to paint a clear picture of community needs related to housing, poverty, children’s and family’s health, and early childhood education.

From 2018-2020, Andi worked with the University of Oregon School of Law Nonprofit Clinic as a consultant advisor, supporting teams of graduate students as they assessed two nonprofit boards of directors over a 14-week term. Andi guided 10 students in developing professional reports, which they delivered to the boards of directors in final presentations.  For more information on the UO Law Nonprofit Clinic, click here.

In 2016, Andi led a complex assessment of a $10 million organization with 250 employees, relying on expertise from nine additional consultants. The project led to leadership change and stability for a vital community service provider. In 2018 and 2019 Andi completed a fiscal assessment for a nonprofit collective ($6.5M budget with 170 employees).

In 2009-2010, Andi completed six organizational assessments with a team of specialists from Meliora Partners, Inc. Andi crafted comprehensive reports of community action agencies with budgets ranging from $2M to $20M. They featured findings and recommendations in six key areas. During this time, Andi also developed two community needs assessments of multi-county service areas in Oklahoma and West Virginia. These projects informed subsequent strategic plans for these nonprofits.