RCE Greater Portland-2017
Allow for upload of relevant evaluation documents :
a) Criteria/ indicators used to assess aspects of RCE work/ project: Character count 300 words:
Our strategic plan included specific targets this year, which we used to assess how well we met our goals and objectives. The review of our outcomes helped us prioritize our new targets for the 2017-2018 strategic plan.
Specific criteria vary depending on the event. We do not have a formal self-evaluation process, but we do have an event-planning template which includes a debrief about what has worked and not worked well with each event and program. We have met after each event to discuss core indicators of went well and what we could do better next time, based on attendance, participant feedback, and whether our goals were achieved based on the outcomes, leading to revisions in the planning template.
We also have incorporated Survey Monkey surveys of participants to assess some events, including the symposium and the train-the-trainer workshops.
We also used Survey Monkey to assess the SDG priorities of our RCE and to evaluate the Director.
Specific criteria vary depending on the event. We do not have a formal self-evaluation process, but we do have an event-planning template which includes a debrief about what has worked and not worked well with each event and program. We have met after each event to discuss core indicators of went well and what we could do better next time, based on attendance, participant feedback, and whether our goals were achieved based on the outcomes, leading to revisions in the planning template.
We also have incorporated Survey Monkey surveys of participants to assess some events, including the symposium and the train-the-trainer workshops.
We also used Survey Monkey to assess the SDG priorities of our RCE and to evaluate the Director.
b) Successes of the RCE and lessons learned: Character count 300 words:
Successes:
1) We have hosted a variety of different events and collaborated with multiple partners, to serve diverse audiences, across sectors, integrating the skills and resources of a variety of partners, with numbers exceeding our targets.
2) Different working groups have offered their time and expertise to plan and execute the events.
3) The creation of our Event Planning Template has been very helpful.
4) We have identified needs within our community, such as offering the Fellows Program, and are glad that we can offer innovative resources and support.
5) We received funding to develop and offer our Hope and Resilience and Facing Climate Change workshops.
6) We offered signature events, including our annual Sustainability Symposium and Sustainability Social.
7) We are very proud of our partner and frequent host, Portland Community College, for winning the national Climate Change Award. Check out the video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=K0KyThvvcOo.
Lessons learned:
1) Through feedback from new Board members, we recognize that we need to continue to make more efforts to increase diverse leadership and engagement.
2) We need to be more intentional in our outreach, partnership development, and marketing.
3) We still need to build staff capacity, and, therefore, need to expand outreach for formal partners and grants, in order to fund paid staff.
4) We need to foster greater mentorship relationships to support interns.
1) We have hosted a variety of different events and collaborated with multiple partners, to serve diverse audiences, across sectors, integrating the skills and resources of a variety of partners, with numbers exceeding our targets.
2) Different working groups have offered their time and expertise to plan and execute the events.
3) The creation of our Event Planning Template has been very helpful.
4) We have identified needs within our community, such as offering the Fellows Program, and are glad that we can offer innovative resources and support.
5) We received funding to develop and offer our Hope and Resilience and Facing Climate Change workshops.
6) We offered signature events, including our annual Sustainability Symposium and Sustainability Social.
7) We are very proud of our partner and frequent host, Portland Community College, for winning the national Climate Change Award. Check out the video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=K0KyThvvcOo.
Lessons learned:
1) Through feedback from new Board members, we recognize that we need to continue to make more efforts to increase diverse leadership and engagement.
2) We need to be more intentional in our outreach, partnership development, and marketing.
3) We still need to build staff capacity, and, therefore, need to expand outreach for formal partners and grants, in order to fund paid staff.
4) We need to foster greater mentorship relationships to support interns.
c) Challenges experiences: Character count 300 words:
We continue to grow, with new programs and events, in addition to more volunteers, interns, and fellows, which all require coordination and management. It is not enough to depend on volunteers to meet our capacity needs. This led to inequity in workloads and burn out of our outgoing Director. The network has struggled due to the leaders being stretched too thin.
We would like to hire someone full-time to manage the coordination of the non-profit, along with staff to support efforts across the network. Foundations tend to not give grants for operations and staff, so we will need to do extra work to find appropriate funding.
We also need to attract larger and more Sustaining Partners and donors who can support more of the budget and programs.
One core program that has been needed since the launch of our RCE is an interactive, searchable database. While we have collected some of the data, with changing leaders and interns, the efforts have ebbed and flowed. Funding has also not been secured to develop the database.
We would like to hire someone full-time to manage the coordination of the non-profit, along with staff to support efforts across the network. Foundations tend to not give grants for operations and staff, so we will need to do extra work to find appropriate funding.
We also need to attract larger and more Sustaining Partners and donors who can support more of the budget and programs.
One core program that has been needed since the launch of our RCE is an interactive, searchable database. While we have collected some of the data, with changing leaders and interns, the efforts have ebbed and flowed. Funding has also not been secured to develop the database.
