How to Plan a Results-Based Community Improvement Initiative

Planning is an essential component of any successful community initiative. There are many different ways to approach the planning process, but the best plans are results-based – they use data to guide decision-making. Using data to continually measure conditions of wellbeing allows communities to determine areas of need, focus resources and strategies on making the greatest impact, measure whether efforts are making a difference, and quickly adjust the plan as needed.

In the following article, we provide a basic process for planning an effective, results-based community improvement initiative. We also provide a sample planning timeline you can adapt for your own purposes. Stay tuned for future articles discussing this process in more detail!

Getting Started:

Before planning a results-based initiative or any type of community improvement process, it is important to take the time to ensure that there is leadership support from throughout the community. Many types and levels of leadership are necessary for an improvement effort to succeed and endure.

Leadership:

Typically, at least two levels of leadership should be involved in the process:

1.  Leadership Team: A public-private, inter-organization and/or community-wide team of individuals at a high enough level to authorize and approve action plans.
2. Planning and Action Team: A public-private, inter-organization and/or community-wide team made up of mid-level leaders who are able to meet regularly to develop and implement strategic plans. This team can also plan and facilitate community convenings.

Stakeholders:

In addition to leadership, it is important to be thoughtful about engaging key stakeholders in leadership, action, and design and evaluation roles, including youth, families, employers, neighborhood residents, civic leaders, non-profit organizations, businesses, and others. Those who are affected must be given space at the table to shape their own futures. Different community members will bring unique perspectives, resources, and talents that can help accelerate improvement.

Basic Process:

1. Prioritize community goals and develop measures of success:

In order to determine whether community improvement initiatives are successful, it is important to start with the “end” in mind. Communities must first determine what they want to achieve and then measure progress using indicators of success. Measures should be based on community conditions and guidance from those most affected by needed changes. For example, a community may conduct a community needs assessment and determine they need to focus on achieving “healthy residents.” A measure of success for healthy residents could be “percentage of adults who are at a healthy weight.” In another example, the community may set a goal that “all children receive a quality education and are prepared to lead successful lives.” An appropriate indicator of success for this goal could be “high school graduation rate.” The Leadership Team should develop and prioritize a list of 3 – 5 primary goals and  3 – 5 accompanying measures that will be the primary focus of the planning process. These goals and measures will help set the vision for success and keep partners focused on what matters throughout planning and implementation.

Results-Based Accountability provides a simple way to develop these goals (referred to as Results) and measures (referred to as Indicators). Learn more about selecting Results here, or learn more about selecting Indicators here.

2. Graph Each Prioritized goal and its accompanying measure of success:

Data is critical to any community improvement initiative. Using data allows us to gain an accurate understanding of past and current community conditions. It is also the only way to truly understand whether our efforts are having the desired impact. It is very important to consistently track and update your measures of success so that leaders, stakeholders, and the community have access to timely information they need to develop the most effective improvement strategies. In this step, you will want to identify data for each of the primary measures of success you’ve selected, to identify local trends. You should also disaggregate your data to identify challenges and promote equity among subpopulations. When you’re done, you should end up with graphs for 3-5 of your primary goals and measures that look something like the graph below.

In this example, the community chose to work towards the goal (or “result”) “Children Perform on Grade Level” (R). They monitored their achievement of this goal using the measure (or “indicator”) “On-Time Graduation Rate – Average” (I). In order to gain the most accurate understanding of current conditions, the community disaggregated their data by race and assigned each sub-population a color. By doing this, they found that Hispanic students fared the worse. Disaggregating your data like this will allow your community to focus effort and resources where they will make the most difference, lifting up those who are most affected, while promoting well-being for all.

3. Hold Community Convenings:

Gather key leaders and stakeholders, including representatives from the affected populations, to:

1. Analyze the “why” behind your data. Analyze each prioritized measure of success (Indicator) to determine the factors that influence its historical and current direction. For example, one reason behind a high obesity rate may be a lack of access to healthy food in the neighborhood. Use information from completed community needs assessments and/or research other information. Don’t forget to disaggregate the data to analyze how to promote equity among sub-populations.
2. Identify other important partners that can help to improve the Indicator and achieve the
   prioritized goal or result. 
3. Brainstorm “what works” to address the contributing factors and improve the Indicators. In order to find ideas on what works, you can research what other communities have done to achieve improvements, read scholarly articles, or come up with your own ideas based on the information gathered in step 1. This step should also include identifying what is already working in the community. Don’t forget about no-cost/ low-cost ideas. Allow a free-flow of ideas in this step.
4. Prioritize the best strategies from the brainstormed list of “what works” and develop action steps to implement these strategies. Identify common themes among contributing factors and strategies so that unnecessary
   duplication is avoided and strategies:
   • Have the highest level of potential impact on the Indicator:
   • Are strengths-based and promote equity;
   • Are child and family-focused;
   • Are feasible and affordable to accomplish.

4. Further Refine Strategies: Further refine the strategies and action plans for presentation to the Leadership Team, following community convenings.

5. Leadership Approval: Leadership Team reviews the Action Plan and approves it for implementation (or requests further refinement).

6. Continue This Process On An Ongoing Basis. This action planning process is very data-driven, dynamic and results-focused. Ongoing review of the Indicators and adjustment of the plan as needed is imperative. It is recommended that the action plan be continuously revisited quarterly with the Leadership Team.

Sample Planning Process Timeline

Stay Tuned for an upcoming article where we discuss results-based community planning in more detail. Be sure to sign up for the monthly Turning Curves newsletter so you don’t miss it: