MPA6505 Need back in 1 hour from now

Respond to each peer initial post with 3-4 sentences long

Peer1

When looking at a program evaluation there are four stakeholder categories an evaluator must recognize; they are: program personnel, the people/organization who derive income from the program, the people/organizations that sponsor the program, and the clients or potential recipients of the program’s services. 

Because of the importance of involving stakeholders in the evaluation process, they can have both positive and negative impacts.  One positive impact has to do with the program personnel.  The program’s personnel may have great knowledge about the program and therefore can provide insight to the evaluator that they may only know (Posavac, p.28).  A second positive impact is that stakeholder cooperation for the evaluation may increase if the evaluator gets the stakeholders involved.  Finally, a third positive impact has to do with the clients or potential recipients of the program.  Having the clients or potential recipients of the program involved and acknowledged, can provide the evaluator with a good understanding of the client’s needs and be able to identify if the program is satisfying those needs (Posavac, p.28).

Although there are many benefits for involving stakeholders, there are also a few negative impacts.  One negative impact is depending on the outcome of the evaluation; stakeholders may not want to get involved or cooperate (Brandon & Fukunaga, p.2).  An evaluation can shed light on potential gaps in the current program which may reflect badly on the stakeholders and program itself.  One final negative impact is insufficient knowledge and/or skills (Brandon & Fukunaga, p.2).  Certain stakeholders may not have all the knowledge and/or skills to allow a complete program evaluation.

Having stakeholder’s involvement and input can produce both positive and negative impacts for a program evaluation, however, it seems having this input is more beneficial than negative.  If stakeholders learn enough about the evaluation early enough, and are prepared with training, their input can be quite beneficial.  As stated before, certain stakeholders (mainly primary stakeholder’s/program personnel) have knowledge and skills about the program that others do not have and therefore can provide a lot for the evaluation.

Peer 2

An example of program evaluation is how local school districts evaluate how well they are educating students. Stakeholders involved in this process are the parents, teachers, students, principals, and superintendents. All stakeholders are capable of having both positive and negative impacts on an evaluation process. Parents who are reluctant to provide feedback for evaluations are withholding important information that is needed. Parents should provide information stating whether or not they are satisfied with their children’s education and also provide ideas for improvement or make note of what they feel is lacking.

Parents who provide needed information through surveys have a positive impact on the evaluation process because the information given can be used by the school district to make improvements where necessary and also not change areas that do not need improvement. This type of information is needed from teachers as well. Teachers can provide information concerning the teaching process or curriculum. Students affect the evaluation process according to their standardized test scores. Principals who do not enforce school policies when it comes to curriculum negatively impacts evaluation because testing results may not reveal the full potential impact on how much children are capable of learning.

Information provided by parents would have to be considered valid unless there is any information that is found to be false. The same rule should go for teachers and principals. Teachers and principals have the ability to falsify information to make test scores appear better than what they are. School District personnel should be held responsible for verifying information such as test scores and feedback given by parents, teachers, and principals. Stakeholder input should be a part of the evaluation process because the true opinions of teachers, parents, and of all school staff members are needed to expose weaknesses and strengths. Feedback is important because the objectives of organizations cannot be carried out without it (Posavac, 2011). Standardized test scores should continue to be given to show how much children are learning as a part of the evaluation process because they are also a form of feedback.

The purpose of program evaluation is “to contribute to the provision of quality services to people in need” (Posavac, 2011). Program evaluation verifies if programs are reaching their goals and objectives. Goals and objectives can be measured with quantitative and qualitative methods. These methods reveal how well or how poorly a program is operating. Results also reveal areas that need to be improved. If organizations address poor results by increasing the quality of their services, their program evaluation was worth performing. Furthermore, the organization will continue to satisfy the needs of those whom are serviced by the organization.

There are different kinds of evaluators (those who conduct evaluations) (Posavac, 2011). There are internal evaluators that evaluate from within organizations (Posavac, 2011). Internal evaluators should not work directly under management so that evaluations will not be falsely influenced by superiors (Posavac, 2011). It is important to have accurate evaluations so that organizations can be truthful about the successes or failures of their workings. External evaluators can come from government agencies (Posavac, 2011). External evaluators are usually involved when organizations are receiving federal grants as a source of income to fund their programs.

Peer3

What skills, abilities, and/or qualities should the Fundraiser Manager have to successfully manage a nonprofit organization?

    Outline in chapter one, a successful fundraiser follows the six rights philosophy; “Successful fundraising is the right person asking the right prospect for the right amount for the right project at the right time in the right way” (Weinstein, 2009). These are the guidelines of any effective fundraiser manager. Research is a key concept to any organization structure. By knowing fundraiser needs, will allow any manager to succeed in their nonprofits mission and goals. It is important to understand who the audience is and what kind of factors that can contribute to the fundraisers success. Relationships is another significant factor in a successful manager. Building those bridges and developing those relationships with key leaders, activist, and community organizers will help bind the gap between funds or no funds for the organization. Another important factor in regards to successful management of a nonprofit organization is strategic planning. It is imperative that the manager and his or her team have a conceptual model to follow. By creating a detail plan will allow the organization to maximize their strengths and locate their weaknesses. A strategic plan will also help the manager stick to goals and objectives of the organization, which is “people give to people to help people” (Weinstein, 2009).

Explain why or why not demographics are an important factor.

    Demographics are important to any geographical area. In order to structure fundraising and the best form to achieve those results, an organization must take in account the environment. Location is of significance when thinking where to serve. The focus of the fundraisers has to correlate with is community. If a fundraiser goals and objectives is to serve rural schools with supplies and extra curricular activities, they cannot go about that by being located miles and miles away.

Identify the issues/challenges that Fundraising Professionals may face in the strategic plan essential to successfully raise funds.

    The world is ever changing, sometimes for the good and sometimes for the not so good. Either way this situation may pose a threat to fundraising professionals and their organization. There are multiple challenges that may effect nonprofit organizations/charities and their fundraisers. One of those challenges are donors are far more interested in the organizations outcome than in their initiative to help. Donors want conceptual and factual information about how these organizations and charities are helping the lives of the people. They want to know that their efforts are truly going towards the greater good and not to an organizations bank account. (Weinstein, 2009)

Peer4

“Successful fundraising is the right person asking the right prospect for the right amount for the right project at the right time in the right way (Weinstein, 2009 ).” According to Weinstein (200) fundraiser managers should have the ability to exemplify great leadership skills and the ability to appeal to funders through building trusting/lasting relationships. Fundraiser managers need to be able to clearly show that there is a “people need.” Therefore, their primary job is to build a strong, mission-based organization. Also, successful fundraisers need relationships with people who can aid them in garnering the resources required fulfil the organization's mission. Last but not least, the fundraiser has to be able to show the funder that he/she is thankful to keep the funder in a gracious giving mood. (Weinstein, 2009 )

Depending on fundraising demographics too heavily could turn out to be limiting. According to Fundraisingip (2017) some groups have a tendency to be excessively specific in targeting fundraising efforts and miss out on a large segment of willing supporters and volunteers. According to Fundraisingip (2009) if the target population isn’t very well-off and very willing to give, groups should be careful about relying solely upon fundraising demographics. While demographics can be very useful, again relying upon that alone is a very risking fundraising practice. “Fundraising planners need to incorporate fundraising demographics with past successes and failures to arrive at an equation that will equal fundraising success (Fundraisingip, 2017).

Fundraising professionals may face challenges with building strategic partnerships and collaborations that may be essential to the fundraising process. Therefore, they will need to put in the time and work it takes to build these such partnerships/collaborations. On the word of Weinstein (2009) this is done by meeting with prospective partners periodically even when the outcomes and expectations are not clear.

Many nonprofit organizations speak positively about the value of strategic partnerships and collaboration; however, they tend to act alone. Some executive directors, development directors, program heads, and marketing directors seem to think that opportunities for collaboration will appear magically. That is simply not the case. (Weinstein, 2009).