Managing the Program

The Joining Hands Program will require a dedicated Champion to lead the effort, ideally for the duration of the commitment.

The program is designed to start to realize its greatest impact in three years, which we suggest is the minimum commitment.  To us, this is an on-going program, as at-risk communities are transient in nature, with residents moving on in time to better situations and new residents taking their place.  In our experience, you are never really finished. 

The Champion should have a small group of co-leaders to help organize and manage various aspects of the program, as well as the support of a team of volunteers for the program to be successful.

As in all such endeavours, there should be a sufficient budget to financially support the effort, and the appropriate planning to ensure the program’s success.

>> Please see the section Getting Started for details on how to begin, the budgets, resources 

Annual Review and Planning

Once a year conduct a review of the previous year’s efforts, and the plans for the year to come. Feedback from the residents and the volunteers should be included in this review process (see Measurement section below).  The goal is to improve the delivery of the activities, enhance the building of relationships, and seek more ways to positively impact the lives of the residents.

Measurement

There should be two types of measurement undertaken in support of the Joining Hands Program.

Feedback

The first type is in the area of Feedback.  This should be obtained formally, through surveys, and informally, through conversations.  The Champion and the team of co-leaders should have their collective ear tuned to the experience of the residents, and the volunteers, in the running of activities.

It is recommended that regular Feedback Surveys are conducted to understand how the Program is being run, assessing its impact, suggestions for improvement. These surveys should be conducted once a year, or at the conclusion of an activity (i.e., at the end of the BBQ events), and can be distributed on-line (through a service like Survey Monkey) or on paper.

It is recommended that the same questions being used each time, for consistency in comparisons, though new questions can be added.  As well, the questionnaire should be kept to a limited size for ease of completion.  

>> Please see Sample Questionnaires to download sample questionnaires

Performance Measurement

The second is in the area of Performance Measurement.  This involves measuring and tracking some key measures of performance for the overall program, and for each activity.  These measures will help in assessing the value of the program, its reach, and its breadth in touching residents.  Tracking these measures over time will help in the program’s management, and support the program’s interaction with funders, sponsors, partnering organizations, and the local government agencies.

It is recommended that measures be captured following each event, either counted or estimated based on what is feasible, and stored in a central database for tracking and reporting purposes.

>> See Performance Metrics for a list of suggested measures