Interactive Assessment
Take 5 minutes to find out if you are equipped to take on place-based work or drive deeper impact through the work you are already doing with communities.
What is the assessment?
This assessment will give you an overview of where your strategies are successful, and where you may need more support.
Why should I take it?
Gain a better understanding of where you are in your place-based work, and what more you could be considering or taking action on, through this short assessment.
What will I get?
At the end of the assessment you will receive a summary of your results and a set of recommended resources to support you in your place-based work.
Identifying your place
For place-based strategies to be effective, you should be prepared to spend time and go deep with that community. Consider places that you have an authentic connection to — through history, industry, relationships and/or action — and in which communities have barriers to opportunity that you are able to help address.
Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest
01
Do you have roots, presence, experience or relationships in this area? How credible are you to work with this community?
02
Are there specific unaddressed needs or gaps in this community that you believe your organization is uniquely equipped to address?
03
Are you able and committed to working with this community for the long term (e.g. longer than a typical grant cycle of 1- 5 years)?
Understanding community needs
As you embark on place-based impact, it is vital to listen to the community to understand their needs: every community has a varied, holistic set of needs to thrive.
Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest
01
Have you heard directly from community leaders and changemakers, and have these insights shaped your definition of community needs?
02
Are you meeting communities where they are — ease of access to engagement, and addressing barriers to trust?
03
How early are you integrating feedback loops and welcoming community voices? I.e. during priority setting, program design, measuring success, program execution, or after?
04
How are you ensuring ongoing cultural understanding of the community you serve e.g. working with local experts, hiring local talent etc?
Figuring out your role in the ecosystem
Before creating programs and making grants to serve key community needs, do your due diligence into who is already serving those needs. Reach out and open the pathways for collaboration and knowledge sharing with funders and nonprofits already active in that place. You will add the most value by accelerating existing efforts and filling gaps.
Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest
01
Do you have a good understanding of the work already being done to address the needs you’ve identified, and have you made contact with those organizations to see how you can support their work?
02
Are you building partnerships across the aisle, with private and public sector actors, from grassroots to treetops?
03
Are you creating a framework for collaboration that allows practitioners and experts to lead through their knowledge and lived experience? I.e. minimal redundant infrastructure, limited reporting, leading with trust-based partnerships.
04
Are you building the capacity and leadership of your local partners? I.e. creating opportunities for convening to share knowledge + build networks, providing coaching, and developing resources to share best practices.
Designing equitable interventions
Avoid acting too fast and shoe-horning solutions into place. Make sure you have listened carefully to the community and existing partners active in that area to understand how you might plug in to address the most pressing needs, and consider how you are building agency and equity for the community into your processes, not just the outcomes you’re aiming for.
Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest
01
Are you positioning community members to lead and shape the work?
02
Are you leveraging, highlighting, and building on skills and assets that are unique to communities?
03
Have you created open and welcoming feedback channels to make sure your work is moving the needle on what the community needs most?
04
How will your work contribute to overall, generational community well-being and capacity building?
05
Are you prioritizing initiatives that shift resources, economic independence, and decision-making power to the community (however small)?
06
Have you considered how your work can endure local administrative changes and cycles of investment and disinvestment?
Measuring place-based impact
The precise KPIs for any place and place-based strategy will differ depending on the community’s needs and should be defined by and with them. There are some core values that you can track to ensure that your approach as a funder is valuable and effective: Shared voice; Shared values; Shared vision.
Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest
01
Do your metrics for measurement reflect the community's priorities and have they been co-designed with the community?
02
Are you measuring long-term, generational change as well as more short-term success?
03
Are you considering qualitative and quantitative measures?
04
Have you created intentional space for testing, iteration, and evolution that involves stakeholder engagement?
funder assessment Results
Thank you for taking the interactive assessment and for exploring how to put place-based impact into practice in your work. Check out the resources below for more insights and contact us if you would like to be connected to partners with experience in this field.
July 8th, 2024
