The Common Good Data Blog
Insight and mistakes from the world of program evaluation
Standards for collecting race and ethnicity data are changing. Are you prepared?
On March 28, 2024, the US Census Bureau published a news release that they have issued updated standards for maintaining, collecting and presenting race and ethnicity data.
Because so many nonprofit and public sector organizations base their collection of race and ethnicity data on US Census standards, these changes will likely have far-reaching effects, particularly for those organizations who receive federal funding to provide programs and services.
The updated standards are intended to create more “useful, accurate, and up-to-date” federal data on race and ethnicity that reflects an increasingly diverse America.
The Eval Section - Part #2: Protecting Participants: Confidentiality, Privacy, and Informed Consent
For our second installment of the four-part blog series to help de-mystify the world of data and program evaluation in federal grant proposals, our focus is on protecting participants in program evaluation design with a focus on confidentiality, privacy, and informed consent. Topics include:
Program evaluation vs research
Considering human subjects protection in grant proposals
What is informed consent?
Special protections for vulnerable populations, including children and youth.
Privacy and confidentiality explained
The Eval Section - Part #1: Data Collection
The evaluation section of any federal grant can seem like a mountain to climb. I know that for many of the organizational leaders I work with, words like "informed consent" and "quality improvement model" and "data analysis methodology" can sound like a headache.
However, I will tell you that a strong evaluation section is one of the ways you can separate yourself from the field and win that next six- or seven-figure federal grant. This blog post is the first of a four-part series to help de-mystify the world of data and program evaluation and empower you to write like a data-driven leader in your area of practice.
3 Tips for Writing Federal Grant Proposals
As a data and evaluation consultant, I've worked with a number of teams to win six-figure, 4-5 year grant awards in the areas of mental health and substance use prevention using proven grant-writing processes designed to help organizations write successful proposals.
But not all proposals win. Below are the three main weaknesses I see with grant proposals, and how you can avoid them.