Chapter 38. Some Methods for Evaluating Comprehensive Community Initiatives | Community Tool Box

Whenever you begin a new job or start a project, you will probably want to understand how well your work is going. You might ask yourself: "Is my work meeting its goals and the expectations of the people involved or affected?"

Community initiatives also benefit from evaluation throughout their work. Asking community members, participants, staff, and other stakeholders whether plans are working as intended is one important part of evaluation. Positive findings can help confirm that an initiative is moving in a useful direction, while other findings can identify where adjustments may be needed.

This chapter explains why evaluation is important and offers step-by-step approaches for evaluating your group's work. Evaluation can help you recognize progress, learn from challenges, and make informed decisions about what to continue, strengthen, or change.

What does it mean to evaluate a community initiative?

Evaluation is the systematic process of understanding the value, implementation, and effects of your work. After developing and carrying out an initiative, you need information about how well it is working, for whom, under what conditions, and where improvements may be needed.

In some areas of life, feedback is immediate. You press the brakes and the car slows down. You shoot a basketball and see whether the ball goes in. Community initiatives are more complex. Changes may take time, multiple factors may influence outcomes, and different people may experience the same initiative differently. Evaluation provides a structured way to understand what is happening rather than relying only on impressions or assumptions.

In this chapter, evaluation refers to gathering and interpreting information about your group, its activities, and the changes connected to its work. This information can help you determine which parts of your action plan are working well, which are creating barriers, and which should be adapted. Evaluation findings can then inform changes to goals, strategies, implementation, and future planning.

The sections in this chapter focus specifically on ways to gather useful information. The next chapter discusses ways to use that information to strengthen and improve your initiative. Organizations sometimes hesitate to evaluate their work, so it is helpful to recognize and address some common concerns.

Common concerns about evaluation

People may feel uncertain about evaluation because they are unfamiliar with the process, concerned about the time it requires, or worried about what the findings might show. These are understandable concerns, but they do not have to prevent useful evaluation.

I don't know how to conduct an evaluation.

Evaluation skills can be learned. This chapter walks through the basic steps involved in planning an evaluation, gathering information, interpreting findings, and using what you learn to improve your work.

I don't have the time.

Evaluation does require time and attention. However, identifying problems, barriers, or implementation challenges early can prevent larger difficulties later. Evaluation can also help organizations focus limited time and resources on approaches that are most useful.

Once useful information becomes part of routine program operations, evaluation may require less additional effort. Attendance records, participant feedback, implementation notes, community indicators, and other information can often be collected as part of regular work rather than through a separate process.

The findings may be disappointing or create challenges for us.

Evaluation may show that some parts of an initiative are not producing the outcomes you expected. That information can still be valuable. Identifying limitations gives you an opportunity to understand what is happening, make changes, and improve the quality and responsiveness of the initiative. Evaluation should be approached as a tool for learning and accountability rather than simply as a judgment of success or failure.

Why should you evaluate a community initiative?

Effective community work requires attention throughout planning, implementation, and follow-up. Consider a musician learning a new piece for a performance. Practice is essential, but feedback can help identify whether tempo, technique, interpretation, or another element needs adjustment. Without feedback, it may be difficult to recognize what is working well and what needs additional attention.

Community initiatives also need feedback throughout their work. An organization may devote substantial time, energy, and resources to pursuing its goals, but without evaluation it may be difficult to know whether the effort is reaching the people intended, responding to community priorities, being implemented as planned, or contributing to meaningful change. Evaluation helps identify progress and informs adjustments along the way.

There are many reasons evaluations are valuable. Some of the ways evaluation can benefit a community initiative include:

• Evaluation can document progress and strengthen support. Evidence of meaningful outcomes can help community members, partners, funders, and decision-makers understand the value of the work. For example, an initiative might document increased volunteer participation, improved access to preventive health services, stronger community partnerships, or other accomplishments. Clear evidence can support continued investment and help organizations communicate what they have achieved.
• Evaluation can turn challenges into opportunities for learning. When an initiative does not meet its goals, evaluation can help identify why. The issue may involve implementation, accessibility, resources, outreach, program design, changing community conditions, or another factor. Understanding these challenges provides a stronger basis for improvement than simply labeling the initiative unsuccessful.
• Evaluation can recognize accomplishments and sustain motivation. Seeing evidence of progress can reinforce the value of people's efforts. Findings that identify areas for improvement can also support motivation when they are treated as information for learning rather than as personal or organizational failure.
• Evaluation can strengthen future action. Once you understand what has worked, what has not, and why, you can refine your strategies and make better-informed decisions about future efforts. Sharing these lessons may also help attract new partners or strengthen community support.
• Evaluation can help you understand important aspects of the initiative. Suppose a free health screening is well attended while a monthly healthy-cooking program has low participation. Evaluation can help you explore why. Scheduling, transportation, location, childcare, cost, communication, cultural relevance, accessibility, or competing responsibilities might all influence participation. Evaluation can help explain not only what happened, but why.

When should you evaluate a community initiative?

Evaluation should take place throughout the life of an initiative.

When your plan is being implemented:

• Establish baseline information for the behaviors, conditions, experiences, or outcomes you hope to influence. Understanding where things began makes it easier to assess change over time.
• Examine the effects your work is having on participants and the broader community, including intended and unintended outcomes.
• Continue revising and updating action plans as new information becomes available.
• Keep the group focused on its goals while remaining responsive to community priorities. You may want to use a survey that assesses community goals and use the findings to refine priorities.

When some of your action plans are complete:

• Use evaluation findings to understand the initiative's outcomes, identify what should be sustained or adapted, and plan future work. For example, community-level indicators can help show whether broader community conditions are changing in ways related to the initiative.

How do you begin an evaluation?

Evaluation can seem complex when viewed as a single large task, but it can be broken into manageable steps. Begin by identifying what you most need to understand about your work.

Before moving into specific methods, keep one principle in mind: your evaluation should address questions that matter to community members, program participants, staff, partners, decision-makers, and funders. Time, funding, staffing, and available information may limit what you can examine, so focus on questions that will help your organization learn and make useful decisions. Every initiative is different, but the following questions are relevant to many community efforts:

• Who participated in the initiative, and whose perspectives may be missing?
• What programs, policies, practices, services, relationships, or community conditions changed?
• What changes occurred in people's experiences, behaviors, access to resources, or other relevant outcomes?
• What evidence suggests that your initiative contributed to those changes, and what other factors may also have influenced them?

Tips for implementing a successful evaluation

Build a commitment to evaluation.

Evaluation is most useful when the organization sees it as part of learning and improvement rather than simply as a requirement. Be clear about why you are evaluating the initiative, what you hope to learn, and how the findings will be used.

For example, if an initiative seeks to reduce tobacco use among young people, evaluation questions might examine changes in tobacco use, access to tobacco products, exposure to prevention efforts, enforcement of age-of-sale requirements, or other community and policy conditions that influence use.

Your evaluation should be grounded in your stated objectives or goals.
When you planned your initiative, you should have identified what you hoped to accomplish. Clearly defined objectives provide a foundation for deciding what information to collect and how progress will be assessed.
For example, if your objective is to reduce tobacco use among local high school students to 5% by May 2032, you can compare later estimates with that target while also examining trends, differences among groups, and other factors that may influence the result. Clear objectives make evaluation more focused, but they should not prevent you from noticing important outcomes that were not originally anticipated.

For each objective, identify indicators that provide meaningful and appropriate measures of progress.

Indicators should reflect what you are actually trying to change. Whenever possible, use multiple measures rather than relying on a single number to represent a complex issue.

For example, if your objective is to prevent violence involving young people in a local school or community, possible indicators might include violence-related injuries, reports of feeling safe at school, participation in conflict-resolution or mentoring programs, school attendance, access to supportive adults, reported incidents, and other measures of community safety and well-being. Arrest data may sometimes provide additional context, but they should be interpreted carefully because they also reflect reporting and enforcement practices.

If your objective is to increase access to heart-healthy foods, possible indicators might include the availability and affordability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other nutritious foods; the number of stores or restaurants offering healthier options; participant-reported access; or changes in organizational food policies. Measures should reflect access and opportunity rather than assuming that individual choices alone determine health.

You need to collect information on each of these indicators.

Sometimes the information you need already exists. For example, library records might help evaluate efforts to increase borrowing, while transportation or public safety records might provide information about traffic conditions. In other cases, relevant information may not be available and you may need to collect it directly through observation, surveys, interviews, sensors, administrative tracking, or other appropriate methods.

Whenever possible, gather information from before and after implementation and, when useful, at several points in between. These data can help you determine whether meaningful change occurred. However, a simple before-and-after difference does not by itself prove that the initiative caused the change. Consider trends, outside events, differences among groups, and other factors when interpreting the findings.

Use the results to adjust the program or intervention as necessary.

Ask whether the initiative is moving toward its objectives and whether participants and communities are experiencing the intended benefits. If progress is limited, use the findings to understand why before deciding what to change. The issue may involve program content, outreach, accessibility, implementation quality, community conditions, or the objective itself.

For example, if a tobacco-prevention initiative is not producing the expected change among high school students, you might examine whether young people find the program relevant, whether cessation support is available, how social and commercial environments influence tobacco use, whether new nicotine products are affecting behavior, and whether policies and enforcement practices support prevention. Findings like these can guide changes that address both individual behavior and the broader conditions influencing it.

In Summary

Begin by asking, "What do we need to understand about our initiative?" Evaluation can then help you gather and interpret the information needed to answer those questions.

Evaluation should be an ongoing part of community work rather than something conducted only at the end. It can help you recognize progress, understand participant and community experiences, identify barriers and unintended effects, strengthen accountability, and make informed decisions about what to continue, adapt, expand, or discontinue.

The following sections in this chapter describe methods you can use to evaluate your initiative systematically and use what you learn to strengthen future work.

What is evaluation?

___You understand that evaluating means determining the value of your work

What are some objections to evaluation and how can you resolve those objections?

___"I don't know how to do an evaluation."

• Use a resource such as the Community Tool Box to find guide once the steps you should take to plan and implement the evaluation, and use the results.

___"I don't have time."

• Although it is true that evaluation takes time, it will save time in the long run, by pointing out potential problems before they become disasters

___"The results may be negative or hurt us."

• If you begin evaluating early, you should be able to prevent any major problems
• If you do find problems, you can use that to improve the quality of your program

Why should you evaluate your program?

___Success is reinforcing

___Failure is instructive

___Evaluation can make you feel good

___Evaluation raises the chances of further action

___Evaluation can help you understand important aspects of the initiative

___You should evaluate your initiative when your plan is in action, or when some of your plans have been completed

How should you do an evaluation?

___You want to evaluate

___You have evaluated in terms of objectives or goals

___You have identified criteria or indicators that will provide ways to measure your objectives

___You have collected data on each of these indicators

___You have used the results to adjust the program or intervention as necessary

What does it mean to monitor your progress?

Monitoring means regularly collecting and reviewing information about your initiative's activities, progress, and emerging outcomes. It helps you compare what is happening with your plans and community priorities. Monitoring can identify implementation challenges and changes that need further investigation, although it does not by itself establish what caused an outcome. A useful monitoring system can help you:

• Understand how the initiative operates and who it reaches
• Make informed decisions about activities, resources, and improvements
• Communicate accomplishments, challenges, and lessons learned
• Build community participation and support
• Inform funding decisions and account for the use of resources

Monitoring is already part of many everyday activities. Teachers review students' work to understand learning progress. A household might compare utility use across several months. A community organization might track attendance and ask participants about their experiences. For a community initiative, monitoring provides a consistent way to document activities, accomplishments, challenges, and changes over time.

The monitoring approach described here has three key parts:

• Clearly defined process and outcome measures
• A system for observing and documenting activities and changes
• Regular feedback and discussion to inform action

This section explains process and outcome measures and how to organize an observational monitoring system. Later sections discuss ways to share feedback with coalition members and the wider community. Plan for that use from the beginning by agreeing on who needs the information and which decisions it will inform.

Process measures

Process measures describe how an initiative is implemented, including its activities, participation, reach, and quality of delivery. Teams may track these alongside inputs, such as funding, and outputs, such as workshops delivered or plans completed. Keeping these distinctions clear helps you avoid treating activity counts as evidence of improved community outcomes.

Implementation monitoring can cover many aspects of your initiative, such as:

• Participation: The number of people involved, frequency of attendance, new and continuing participation, and barriers to involvement.
  • Example: Seventeen people attended the most recent coalition meeting. Ten had attended previously, and seven were participating for the first time.
• Planning products: Agreed objectives, action plans, bylaws, and other documents or structures that support the initiative.
  • Example: The coalition approved an action plan identifying priorities, responsibilities, and implementation dates.
• Media coverage and communication: Coverage through radio, television, print, online news, and other channels, distinguishing independent coverage from the initiative's own communications.
  • Example: A local radio station aired three interviews about the initiative. The team recorded the dates and topics, noting that broadcasts alone do not show how many people listened or acted on the information.
• Financial and other resources: Grants, donations, and in-kind contributions, such as meeting space, equipment, or donated services. These are resources supporting the work rather than outcomes of the intervention.
  • Example: A fundraising lunch generated $8,000 in gross revenue for local substance use prevention and recovery-support efforts. The team recorded event expenses separately to determine the net amount available.
• Services and activities delivered: Classes, workshops, publications, referrals, and other services or communications provided through the initiative.
  • Example: Childcare providers delivered four nutrition education workshops. Records documented attendance, languages offered, and participant feedback.
• Community actions: Activities intended to encourage changes in programs, policies, practices, or community conditions.
  • Example: Residents and coalition members met with local service providers to request evening appointments for people unable to attend during daytime hours.

Event logs can help document these activities and resources consistently. Select measures that relate to your goals and intended decisions rather than trying to record everything. An example of an event log appears later in this section.

Outcome measures

Outcome measures describe changes relevant to the initiative's goals, such as improved access, changes in practices, or changes in people's experiences and well-being. New programs, policies, and practices may be intermediate outcomes when the initiative aims to change community systems. Their adoption does not automatically demonstrate improved conditions or establish that the initiative caused the change.

Examples of intermediate community changes include:

• Changes in programs: New or adapted services that respond to community priorities.
  • Example: A community center introduced a parenting-support program developed with local families. Later monitoring examined who could access it and whether participants found it useful.
• Changes in policies: Adoption or revision of rules and commitments that guide organizational or community practices.
  • Example: Following discussions with residents and the coalition, a service agency adopted a policy requiring its appointment system to offer evening options. The team documented the policy's approval and planned to track implementation.
• Changes in practices: New or revised ways of carrying out work.
  • Example: Local service providers began offering evening appointments. The team then tracked availability, use, and whether the change reduced scheduling barriers.

Together, implementation and outcome measures help explain what the initiative is doing and what is changing. Interpret them alongside community feedback and information about other influences. A count of new policies, for example, becomes more useful when you also know whether they were implemented and whom they benefited.

Why do you need to monitor your progress?

Monitoring is useful when the information leads to discussion and decisions. Before collecting data, agree on what the team needs to understand, who will review the findings, and how often. A focused monitoring system can help in the following ways:

• Data can show where the initiative places its effort. For example, records might show extensive service delivery but little progress on a planned policy change. Both may be valuable; compare the pattern with the initiative's goals and community priorities to decide whether adjustments are needed.
• Data can help identify who is reached and where change is occurring. Is the initiative making progress in schools but encountering barriers in other settings? Who can access the activities, and whose experiences are missing? Examine differences where the information is adequate and can be reported without compromising privacy.
• Data can reveal which strategies are being implemented. For example, records may show that information sessions are taking place while planned peer support or service referrals have not yet started. This can prompt discussion about resources, responsibilities, and implementation barriers.
• Data can support learning, communication, and accountability. Staff and community partners can use findings to improve activities, explain accomplishments and challenges, invite participation, and inform funding decisions. Reports should represent the full picture rather than highlight only favorable results.

How do you monitor your progress?

Begin by agreeing on a manageable set of measures, clear definitions, and responsibilities for collecting and reviewing information. Decide how records will be stored, who can access them, and how summaries will be used. The following steps describe a practical system built around event logs.

Collect data by completing event logs and other forms regularly

Event logs are structured records of important activities and developments. They can document actions taken by the initiative and new or modified programs, policies, or practices relevant to its goals. Record the initiative's role and supporting evidence without assuming that every related change resulted from its work.

An event log might include:

• The date of the event, using a consistent format
• A description of the event, including:
  • How it relates to the initiative's goals and why it matters
  • What happened, what evidence supports the record, and what follow-up is needed
• Relevant details, including:
  • The roles or groups involved, avoiding unnecessary identifying information
  • Which organizations contributed staff time, funding, space, or other resources
  • The community setting, strategy, or objective addressed
  • Whether this was a new activity, a repeated activity, or an update to an earlier record

For example, consider a hypothetical youth well-being coalition working with students to expand their role in school decisions. A member records: "On September 15, student representatives and coalition members met with the school principal to propose a student-led action committee. The principal approved the committee's formation, and students agreed to develop its membership process and priorities. The approval creates an opportunity for student leadership; the committee's launch and influence on decisions will be tracked separately."

The event log records the date, participants' roles, purpose, decision, and next steps. Meeting notes provide supporting documentation. Separating approval from implementation helps the coalition avoid counting a planned change as a completed activity.

Involve staff and community members in completing the logs

People directly involved in an activity are often well placed to document it. Assign responsibility for each record so that information is not missed or counted more than once. Agree on a prompt reporting schedule, such as within a week when practical. Provide a simple template, examples, and accessible ways to contribute, then send completed records to the person or team coordinating monitoring.

Gather information carefully and accurately

The time required depends on the initiative's size, activity level, and reporting needs. Try the system on a small scale to estimate the workload and simplify unnecessary steps. Train contributors to use consistent definitions, distinguish observations from interpretations, and identify information they have not yet confirmed. Review records for missing details, duplicate entries, and errors.

Organize the data so that it can be used

Store records in a format the team can maintain, such as a shared spreadsheet, database, or organized paper system. Use consistent categories and a unique identifier for each event. Keep sensitive information in appropriately restricted records, and document corrections or changes in definitions. Clear organization makes it easier to compare reporting periods and answer questions without repeatedly reconstructing what happened.

Summarize the data and share findings with the group

Prepare regular summaries that connect activities and observed changes with the initiative's goals. Use counts, brief descriptions, or charts as appropriate, and explain gaps or limitations. Distinguish new developments from repeated activities and avoid treating every event as equally important. Discuss findings with staff and community partners, agree on any action needed, and identify who will follow up and when.

In Summary

Monitoring helps a community initiative understand its implementation, track progress, and respond to emerging information. A useful system combines clear measures, consistent records, and regular discussion of findings. Event logs can document activities and community changes, while surveys, interviews, and other evaluation methods help explain experiences and outcomes. Use what you learn to guide action, and keep the monitoring process practical enough to sustain.

You understand that monitoring my community initiative can help you:

___Weigh actions against the results to see if we're meeting the goals of the community and the initiative

___Understand the initiative

___Make decisions concerning the programming of the initiative

___Promote awareness of accomplishments

___Recruit support

___Secure funding

You understand these 3 key parts of a monitoring system:

___Process and outcome measures

___Observational system

___Regular feedback on performance

You understand that process measures can be used to monitor the following:

___Members who participate

___Planning products

___Media coverage

___Financial resources

___Services that are ultimately provided

___Community actions

You understand that outcome measures can be used to monitor the following:

___Changes in programs

___Changes in policies

___Changes in practices

You understand that the data you gather by using the monitoring system can help the group in the following ways:

___Data can tell you where the initiative places its emphasis

___Data can point out which groups in the community are affected by your initiative

___Data can reveal which strategies are being addressed

___Data can be used by the staff to achieve a variety of results

Data collection checklist:

___Have key project staff and active members of the initiative keep event logs of all events

The event logs include the following information:

___The month/day/year of the event

___A description of the event itself, including:

• Why it was important
• What happened as a result

___A description of the details of the event, including:

• Who was involved
• What organizations contributed people and resources
• What community sector or objective this relates to
• If this is the first time this event happened

___Complete event logs no later than one week after the event has taken place

___Give completed event logs to the people in the group who are in charge of evaluation

___Turn over the information gathered to the people in your group who will put the data into some kind of organized form so that the initiative can use it in a beneficial way

___Those who organize the information that is gathered summarize the event logs

___The results are distributed to members of the group

Example: Event Log for an Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Initiative

Site: Franklin County

Recorder: Maggie B.

Tool 1: Event Log

The event log form is designed to help you record major activities of your group's initiative, such as community actions. They are also used to record any changes in the community facilitated by the initiative.

Event log for: ______________

Site: ____________________                        Recorder: ____________________

For this form, please describe:

• Actions taken to bring about changes in the community related to your initiative
• Changes in programs, policies, and practices related to your intiative

Tool 2: Observational codes for the monitoring system

These tables provide a list of key events, definitions, and examples of items using the observational code for the monitoring system as well as general instructions on how to code key events on the event logs.

Codes for Internal Events

Codes for External Events

What does it mean to rate community goals?

Rating community goals is a way to understand how people view their importance and feasibility. Invite perspectives from people within and outside your group, especially those directly affected by the issue. Ask which goals matter most, what makes them achievable, and what barriers need attention. Goals describe desired changes; proposed actions explain how the group might pursue them. Both can be rated, but make clear which you are asking people to assess.

Why rate community goals?

Rating goals creates an opportunity to listen, compare priorities, and refine a plan. Community members can identify missing goals, question assumptions, and suggest different approaches. After revising the proposals, share them again so people can see how their input was used. Ratings can reveal areas of agreement and disagreement, but they do not establish that everyone in the community supports the same priorities.

For example, suppose residents organize an initiative to expand opportunities for physical activity. Some propose an accessible walking trail, while others favor affordable group classes or improvements to existing recreation spaces. People may have different experiences with earlier efforts, transportation, safety, scheduling, and disability access. The group gathers these perspectives and reviews available resources before turning the suggestions into clear proposals.

Residents then rate each proposal's importance and feasibility and explain their reasoning. The group uses the findings to develop a phased action plan, balancing immediate opportunities with important changes that need more preparation. Rather than trying to include every suggestion, it explains its choices, addresses concerns, and identifies when priorities will be reviewed.

Your group can use a similar process to learn from members and the wider community. Include people who have not participated in earlier planning, and ask what would make involvement easier for them.

Appraising community goals can help the community and your group:

• Identify shared priorities and understand differences in perspective
• Set and revisit priorities as conditions and resources change
• Assess whether proposed goals reflect community priorities and revise them when needed

When should you rate community goals?

Rate proposed goals before finalizing the action plan and making major commitments. This gives the group time to respond to feedback and address missing perspectives. Revisit ratings when circumstances change, new information becomes available, or the initiative reaches an agreed review point. A plan should provide direction while allowing reasoned adjustments.

How do you rate community goals?

A survey can help you gather views about proposed goals and actions. Begin by deciding whose perspectives you need, how people can participate, and how the results will inform decisions. Use the survey alongside discussion and relevant evidence rather than treating the ratings as a prediction of success.

Before developing questions, clarify what you hope to learn about importance and feasibility. The survey may help you:

• Understand how respondents judge the importance of proposed goals
• Compare priorities and identify practical requirements for action
• Revise proposals and identify goals or perspectives that are missing

Develop a survey that clearly describes the proposals

Work with community members and evaluation partners to prepare a manageable list of proposals. Use plain language and provide enough detail for respondents to assess each one, including its intended purpose, scope, and timeline. If the initiative has many proposals, organize them into shorter sets or stages rather than asking everyone to rate an overwhelming list. Test the wording with a few intended respondents before distributing the survey.

For example, an initiative supporting adolescent sexual health might propose: "Share accessible sexual health information and local service resources through schools and community organizations." This is a proposed action supporting a broader goal, not an outcome by itself.

Ask respondents to rate its importance to the initiative's purpose and its feasibility within a stated period, such as the next year. Also invite comments about relevance, accessibility, staffing, partnerships, and other conditions that could affect implementation.

Importance concerns how strongly a proposal responds to community priorities and contributes to the initiative's mission. Respondents may consider the number of people affected, urgency, fairness, and the value of the expected change. Their ratings express judgments, not proof of effectiveness. Review relevant evidence separately when assessing whether a proposed action is likely to achieve its intended outcome.

Feasibility concerns whether the proposal can be carried out within the stated time and conditions. Relevant factors include funding, staff capacity, partnerships, access, community support, and any approvals needed. A low feasibility rating may identify barriers that can be addressed rather than a reason to abandon an important goal.

For example, offering a workshop in an existing community space may require fewer new resources than establishing a year-round program. The year-round program could still be a higher priority. Ask respondents what staffing, funding, or partnerships would make it feasible rather than assuming that the easiest option is the most valuable.

People responsible for evaluation can help design the survey with community partners. Together, choose accessible formats, relevant languages, clear instructions, and ways for respondents to raise concerns or suggest alternatives.

A simple approach is to use separate five-point scales for importance and feasibility:

For importance, use 1 = Not important, 2 = Slightly important, 3 = Moderately important, 4 = Very important, and 5 = Extremely important. For feasibility within the stated timeframe, use 1 = Not feasible, 2 = Slightly feasible, 3 = Moderately feasible, 4 = Very feasible, and 5 = Highly feasible. Allow respondents to mark "Not sure" for either rating and explain their answers. Treat "Not sure" and unanswered items separately from numerical scores.

The table below illustrates a survey of proposed actions for a school-community initiative supporting adolescent sexual health. These examples are hypothetical and should be adapted with young people's input.

Survey of proposed actions for a school-community initiative supporting adolescent sexual health 

 Adapt the survey to your initiative. Include the full scale definitions, instructions for marking "Not sure," and space for comments or additional proposals. Check that people understand the questions and can use the chosen format.

Conduct a survey of community members and partners

Invite participation from people with different relationships to the issue, including:

• Members, staff, and volunteers of your group
• People with relevant technical or professional knowledge
• Funders and resource partners
• People directly affected by the issue, including those facing barriers to participation
• Other interested community members, including people outside your existing networks

These participants can contribute different experiences and forms of knowledge. Pay particular attention to people affected by the decisions and avoid assuming that a few representatives speak for everyone. A varied group of respondents can broaden understanding, but diversity alone does not make a survey statistically representative of the community.

Offer several ways to participate, such as paper or online surveys, telephone responses, or supported completion at community events. Explain the purpose, how responses will be used, and that participation is voluntary. Provide appropriate language and accessibility support and a clear deadline. For mailed surveys, include return instructions and, when resources allow, prepaid return envelopes. Follow up in ways that reach people missing from the initial responses without pressuring anyone to participate.

Review the ratings from the returned surveys

Examine importance and feasibility separately:

• How important do respondents consider each proposal to the initiative's mission and community priorities?
• How feasible do respondents consider each proposal within the stated timeframe and conditions?

Assign responsibility for checking and summarizing responses. You can calculate the average importance and feasibility rating for each proposal by adding its numerical ratings and dividing by the number of valid ratings received. Report that number alongside the result, and do not score blank or "Not sure" responses as zero. Also review the distribution of ratings and written comments: an average can conceal strong disagreement or important differences in experience.

In the hypothetical example below, 10 people provided numerical ratings for both dimensions of all four proposals. The table shows their average ratings. These numbers illustrate how to organize responses; they do not establish the importance or effectiveness of the proposed actions in a real community.

Sample Average Importance and Feasibility Ratings

The ratings summarize these respondents' views. They do not necessarily represent the whole community. Ranking proposals can help organize discussion, but no score automatically determines whether a proposal belongs in the action plan. Review comments, missing perspectives, supporting evidence, and the needs of people most affected before deciding.

Use the survey results to refine and finalize the plan

Share the findings with participants and explain how they will inform decisions. Discuss proposals that received mixed or unexpected ratings, clarify misunderstandings, and revise wording or scope where appropriate. Document the reasons for selecting, adapting, deferring, or setting aside each proposal.

The following categories can help organize discussion:

• Prioritize for Action: Proposals rated high in importance and feasibility may be strong candidates for near-term work. Confirm resources, responsibilities, expected benefits, and any concerns before proceeding.
• Build Capacity and Plan: Proposals rated high in importance but low in feasibility may need funding, partnerships, preparation, or a phased approach. Identify what would make progress possible.
• Consider Selectively: Proposals rated lower in importance but high in feasibility may be worth pursuing if they support a more important goal and use few resources. Ease alone is not a reason to prioritize them.
• Reconsider or Defer: Proposals rated low in both dimensions may need revision or may not fit current priorities. Before setting them aside, check whether the ratings reflect missing information or the exclusion of people who consider them important.

Matrix for Prioritizing Goals and Proposed Actions

How do you decide which importance and feasibility ratings are high or low?

Agree on and explain any thresholds before using them to classify proposals. For illustration, the examples below treat averages of 3.5 or higher as high and averages below 3.5 as low. This is a discussion tool, not a validated decision rule. Scores near the threshold, wide disagreement, and "Not sure" responses deserve closer review rather than a rigid classification.

The first proposal, "Share accessible sexual health information and local service resources through schools and community organizations," received an average importance rating of 1.5 and a feasibility rating of 1.7. Under the illustrative thresholds, it falls in the Reconsider or Defer category. Review the comments to learn whether respondents question its relevance, anticipate implementation barriers, or need more detail. Revise or defer it based on that discussion rather than assuming the ratings prove it would have little value.

The second proposal, "Train youth and adult facilitators to lead supportive discussion groups," received an average importance rating of 4.5 and a feasibility rating of 4.1. It falls in the Prioritize for Action category. The group could explore an implementation plan, including training needs, facilitation support, resources, and ways to assess participants' experiences. High ratings indicate perceived priority and feasibility, not guaranteed success.

The third proposal, "Partner with the school district to offer forums for students, caregivers, and educators about adolescent sexual health priorities," received an importance rating of 1.8 and a feasibility rating of 3.9. It falls in the Consider Selectively category. Before proceeding, ask whether it contributes to a higher-priority goal or could be redesigned to become more useful. Avoid choosing it simply because it appears easy to complete.

The fourth proposal, "Support students and educators in drama, journalism, and other clubs to develop youth-led presentations and discussions about sexual health and healthy relationships," received an importance rating of 3.7 and a feasibility rating of 1.6. It falls in the Build Capacity and Plan category. Discuss the barriers with young people and potential partners. A smaller pilot, additional support, or a longer timeline might make the proposal more achievable while preserving its purpose.

In Summary

Rating community goals and proposed actions can clarify priorities, reveal barriers, and support shared planning. The results describe respondents' views and should be interpreted alongside community discussion, relevant evidence, and attention to whose perspectives are represented.

Plan enough time for survey development, testing, accessible distribution, analysis, and follow-up. The workload will depend on the number of proposals, the people you need to reach, and the support required for meaningful participation. Share what you learned, explain how decisions were made, and set a time to revisit the plan as conditions change.

___You understand what it means to appraise community goals

___You understand why you should appraise community goals

___You understand when you should appraise community goals

___You understand how to appraise community goals

___You understand how to survey participants about community goals

___You know how to develop a survey that lists and explains the different objectives that your group hopes to achieve

___You know how to conduct a survey of constituents

___You know how to review the ratings from the returned surveys

___You know how to use the survey results to finalize the plan

Tool: Survey of Goals

Conducting the survey of goals will help your group develop a list of community changes to be sought. It may also be useful in your future strategic planning efforts.

Project:

The purpose of this survey is to help set priorities for_________________________ . We would like your evaluation of the importance and feasibility of each of the proposed changes.

In the first column (Importance), please circle the number that shows how important you feel the listed change is in preventing or reducing __________________________ . In the second column (Feasibility), please circle the number that shows how easy (feasible) it is to reach the objective.

• What is the member survey of process?

• Why should you use the member survey of process?

• When should you use the member survey of process?

• How should you conduct the member survey of process?

What is the member survey of process?

You may have been invited to complete a short survey after visiting a restaurant, attending an event, or using a service. These surveys often ask about specific aspects of the experience, such as communication, accessibility, staff interactions, and overall satisfaction.

Imagine visiting a restaurant to celebrate a friend's birthday. The atmosphere is welcoming, the service is friendly, and most of the experience meets your expectations.

However, the menu is difficult to read, and your server cannot answer a question about an ingredient. In a feedback survey, you describe what worked well and suggest improvements. The restaurant can use those comments to identify changes while maintaining the parts of the experience that customers value.

A member survey of process serves a similar purpose for a community group or coalition. It asks members about their experiences with the group's day-to-day work, including planning, leadership, communication, and participation. The findings can help the group identify strengths, address barriers, and improve how it operates. Members' satisfaction is one source of information; it does not by itself establish the initiative's effectiveness or represent the views of the wider community.

How does this differ from the member survey of goals? The two surveys address related but different questions:

• The member survey of goals asks people to assess the importance and feasibility of proposed goals or actions during planning and later reviews of priorities.
• The member survey of process asks coalition or group members about their experiences once the initiative is underway, with a focus on how the group operates.

A process survey might cover planning, leadership, services, community involvement, and members' perceptions of progress. Questions should focus on matters respondents have enough experience to assess, with opportunities to explain their answers or indicate that they do not know.

Why should you use the member survey of process?

The value of listening to members

A process survey gives members a structured opportunity to describe what supports or limits their participation. It can reveal strengths, unmet needs, communication problems, and differences in experience that may not surface in meetings. Asking for feedback is only the beginning: members also need to see how the group considers and responds to it. Respectful follow-through can support trust and continued involvement, while requests for input that lead to no visible response may discourage participation.

When should you use the member survey of process?

Timing the survey

An annual survey may provide a useful review point, but choose a schedule that fits the initiative's pace and decisions. A new coalition or a group undergoing substantial change may benefit from earlier feedback, while shorter check-ins can address specific issues between surveys. Allow members enough experience to answer meaningfully, avoid unnecessary repetition, and set aside time to analyze findings and act on them.

How should you conduct the member survey of process?

The process can be divided into manageable steps: develop relevant questions, invite participation, summarize responses, and use the findings. Before starting, agree on who will coordinate the work, how responses will be protected, and when members will receive a summary.

Develop a survey

Develop a survey that helps you understand members' experiences with the initiative. Invite input from people with different roles, lengths of involvement, and levels of participation, including those who attend less often. A small design group can identify topics and prepare a draft, then ask several intended respondents to test whether the questions are clear and relevant. Do not rely only on the most active members to define what matters.

Ask clear, neutral questions about one topic at a time. Specify a reporting period, such as the past six months, and use consistent response options. Include space for comments and suggestions, along with separate "Not sure" or "Not applicable" options where needed. These options should not be treated as neutral satisfaction ratings.

Questions might address planning and implementation, leadership, communication, access to participation, or how decisions are made. Choose topics that the group can usefully act on and keep the survey short enough to complete without unnecessary burden.

For example, a question about planning and implementation might read:

During the past six months, how satisfied have you been with the group's leaders following through on agreed project responsibilities?

• Very dissatisfied
• Somewhat dissatisfied
• Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
• Somewhat satisfied
• Very satisfied

A "Very satisfied" response indicates a positive assessment of this particular aspect of leadership. Consistently positive responses across several questions may suggest broad satisfaction among those respondents, but they do not establish that every member has the same experience. Ask an explicit overall satisfaction question if that is something you need to measure, and review comments and differing responses alongside any summary score.

Consider questions about satisfaction with the following aspects of the group:

• Planning and implementation, including clarity of responsibilities and follow-through
• Leadership, communication, and opportunities to influence decisions
• Services or activities that members have enough experience to assess
• Community involvement, accessibility, and inclusion of different perspectives
• Perceived progress toward goals, considered separately from direct evidence of outcomes

Obtain the ratings

Tailor the survey to the initiative's current questions and decisions. Explain its purpose, who is invited to respond, how long it should take, and how the findings will be used. Make participation voluntary and provide appropriate language and accessibility support. Sample surveys can offer ideas, but review and adapt them to fit your group.

Invite all members within the survey's defined scope, including people who do not regularly attend meetings. Offer suitable options such as online, paper, telephone, or supported completion. For paper surveys, a private return box or prepaid envelope may help; for online surveys, check what identifying information the system collects. Explain whether responses are anonymous or confidential, who can access them, and how comments will be reported. Provide a clear deadline and respectful reminders.

Assess satisfaction

Once responses are collected, summarize the number and percentage selecting each option for each question, using the number who answered that item as the denominator. Report skipped, "Not sure," and "Not applicable" responses separately. Review comments for recurring themes and important concerns, including views expressed by only a few people. Note how many members responded and whose perspectives may be missing. Protect identities when reporting small groups or quotations, and avoid assuming that respondents represent every member or the whole community.

Use the data to improve the functioning of the initiative

Share an accessible summary of strengths, concerns, and limitations with members, then discuss what the group should do next. Identify priorities, assign responsibilities, and set dates for follow-up. Explain which suggestions will be acted on, which need further consideration, and which cannot currently be implemented. Members should be able to see that their feedback is being considered and used by the group.

Adapt available sample cover letters, surveys, and results summaries to support your process. Check that the wording matches the questions you need answered and that any promises about privacy reflect what you can provide. Keep a record of the questions and methods used so future surveys can support meaningful comparisons, while documenting necessary changes.

 After reviewing the findings and beginning follow-up, consider what additional evidence would help you understand the initiative's results. The member survey of outcomes offers another way to gather members' perspectives, which can complement other evidence about changes in the community.

What does it mean to rate member satisfaction?

___You understand that the member survey of goals asks community members to respond to action plans during the planning stages of the group

___You understand that the member survey of process gathers opinions from members of the coalition once it has begun work in the community

How do you conduct the member survey of process?

___You understand the four steps of the member survey of process: developing a survey; obtaining the ratings; assessing satisfaction with different aspects of the group; using the data to improve the functioning of the initiative

___Hold a small meeting of those who might be interested in developing a survey and brainstorm possible areas for questions

___Send out a preliminary draft of the survey to your most active members and ask them to comment, add, and take out questions

___Develop the questions to assess satisfaction with aspects of the group, including planning and implementation, leadership, services, community involvement with the group, progress and outcome

___After the surveys have been written, have members of the group distribute them to all the other members of the group

___After the respondents have completed and returned the anonymous surveys to the evaluation team, start looking at the information to determine what changes might need to happen in the structure of the group

___Tabulate the results of the survey

Example 1: Sample cover letter for member satisfaction survey

Date

Dear Member of (name of the initiative):

The purpose of the attached member satisfaction questionnaire is to get your feedback on how well (the initiative) is doing. As you know, (the initiative's) mission is to ___________________________________ in ____________________ (city/county).

Please complete each question by circling the letter that best shows your satisfaction with that aspect of the initiative. We welcome additional comments and suggestions you have for improving (the initiative).

For your anonymity and convenience, please use the enclosed envelope to return your completed questionnaire to our evaluators, the (name them).

Thanks in advance for your valuable advice and feedback.

Best regards,

______________________________

Executive Director

Example 2: Sample member survey of satisfaction

Annual Member Satisfaction Survey
 

Date
Please return by: (date)

We welcome your feedback on how well (the initiative) is doing. For each item, please circle the number that best shows your satisfaction with that aspect of the initiative. Provide additional comments if you wish.

Example 3: Sample Memorandum of Results

Date: ____________________________________

To: (Leadership, Board of Directors of the group, members of the group, members of the community)

cc: Program officer, Funding source

From: The Evaluation Team

Re: Results of the Annual Member Satisfaction Survey for ______________________ .

Enclosed please find the results of the Annual Member satisfaction Survey. We had a good response - ___people (__%) completed the survey. This report includes the average rating and the range of responses for each question, and a summary of the comments for each section.

Generally, respondents were satisfied with the different aspects of functioning outlined in the survey. However, the range of responses was from 1 to 5 for each issue. The highest ratings were noted for the strength of competence of staff, the strength and competence of leadership, and the clarity of the vision of the initiative. The lowest rating was noted for item 20, the group's contribution to the goal of ___________________. Ninety-three percent of the members who completed the survey felt that the community was better off today because of (the initiative).

Many of the members who completed the survey also provided comments at the end of each section. The comments, in addition to the ratings of each question, may provide some helpful feedback in planning for future activities of (the initiative ).

If you have any questions, please feel free to call us. We will also further discuss the survey findings at our next meeting.

This section is based on an article in the Work Group Evaluation Handbook: Evaluating and Supporting Community Initiatives for Health and Development by Stephen B. Fawcett, Adrienne Paine-Andrews, Vincent T. Francisco, Jerry Schultz, Kimber P. Richter, R.K. Lewis, E.L. Williams, K.J. Harris, Jannette Berkley, Jacqueline L. Fisher, and Christine M. Lopez of the Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.

• What is a constituent survey of outcomes?

• Why should you conduct this survey?

• When should you conduct this survey?

• How do you conduct this survey?

What is a constituent survey of outcomes?

A constituent survey of outcomes gathers views from people involved in or affected by an initiative about the significance of its accomplishments and observed changes. Respondents may include participants, residents, initiative members, community partners, and people with relevant technical knowledge. The survey helps you understand what they value and how they interpret the initiative's contribution. Their perceptions complement other evidence; ratings alone do not establish the initiative's impact.

For example, an initiative focused on cardiovascular health might organize a health fair for local school employees, offering information and opportunities to connect with health services. Holding the fair is an activity. Changes such as improved access to services or participants' reported ability to find needed support are possible outcomes that require separate assessment.

The survey could ask respondents how important they consider a documented change, using a clearly labeled rating scale. It could also ask what benefits, limitations, or unintended effects they experienced. Keep questions about importance separate from questions about actual experience: a high importance rating does not show how many people benefited or whether the initiative caused a change.

Why should you conduct this survey?

Like a constituent survey of process, this survey gives community members and initiative participants an opportunity to share their perspectives. While a process survey focuses on how the group operates, an outcomes survey focuses on perceived results and their significance. Include people with different experiences, especially those whose views may not be heard in routine meetings.

For example, feedback about the school employee health fair might indicate that participants valued connections to local services but had difficulty arranging follow-up appointments. The group could explore those barriers before deciding whether to repeat or adapt the event. Less favorable feedback can also identify unmet needs, differences in experience, or questions that require further investigation.

A survey can broaden the evidence available for decisions, but it is not automatically objective or unbiased. Findings depend on who is invited, who responds, how questions are worded, and whether people feel able to answer candidly. Interpret responses alongside service records, other outcome measures, and information about the community context.

When should you conduct this survey?

Choose a schedule that fits the initiative's expected outcomes and decision points. A review every few years may suit long-term community changes, while shorter-term activities may need earlier feedback. The final year of a grant can be one useful point, but some outcomes may require follow-up beyond the funding period. Check funder requirements, allow enough time for respondents to observe relevant changes, and avoid waiting until the end to plan how findings will be used.

How do you conduct this survey?

If you have conducted surveys of goals or process, build on what you learned about clear questions, accessible participation, and useful reporting. Before starting, agree on the survey's purpose, the period it covers, whose perspectives are needed, and the decisions it will inform.

The constituent survey of outcomes involves four main steps.

Develop a survey

Invite community members and evaluation partners to help design the survey. Review event logs and the goal attainment report to identify documented accomplishments and changes. Describe them neutrally, distinguish completed activities from outcomes, and include opportunities to report limited progress or unintended effects. For importance ratings, use a consistent scale: 1 = Not important, 2 = Slightly important, 3 = Moderately important, 4 = Very important, and 5 = Extremely important. Offer a separate "Not enough information to rate" option and space for comments. Test the draft with intended respondents before distributing it.

Conduct a survey of constituents

Invite people who can offer relevant perspectives, including those directly affected, people less involved in the initiative, and technical partners where appropriate. Ask respondents to assess only matters they know enough about. Offer suitable participation options, such as online, paper, telephone, or supported completion, with relevant language and accessibility support. Explain that participation is voluntary, how responses will be protected and reported, and when and where to return them. Reach beyond meeting attendees, and provide a private way to respond so people can raise concerns candidly.

Use the data to understand perceived importance and experiences

Summarize the responses to each question separately. You may calculate an average importance rating, but also show how responses are distributed and review the comments. Exclude skipped items and "Not enough information to rate" responses from numerical averages, and report them separately. Use the number of valid ratings for that question as the denominator, rather than the total number of people who returned a survey. Explain whose views the findings represent and which perspectives may be missing.

To calculate the mean, add the numerical ratings and divide by the number of valid ratings. For example, if ten people give ratings of 3, 4, 4, 5, 3, 2, 5, 4, 4, and 3, the total is 37 and the mean is 3.70. The responses extend from 2 to 5; the statistical range, calculated as the highest value minus the lowest, is 3. This summary describes respondents' ratings. It does not measure the size of an outcome or demonstrate that the initiative caused it.

Use the survey results to refine the group's choices for action

Share an accessible summary with respondents and community partners, then discuss the findings alongside other evidence. Consider what should continue, what needs adjustment, and where more information is required. Explore differing experiences rather than relying only on the highest average ratings. Agree on next steps, responsibilities, and a review date, and explain how the feedback informed decisions. The survey becomes useful when it supports learning and follow-through.

You understand the process of conducting constituent surveys of outcomes:

___You have decided to whom you will distribute the survey

___You have determined that it is a good time to receive feedback

___A survey has been developed

___This survey lists all community changes that the initiative has helped create

___You have mailed or distributed your survey that has a return address or envelope

___The data from the returned surveys has been compiled

___You have performed basic statistics, the mean and the range, that demonstrate early on simple trends

___You have had your results analyzed

___You have used the survey to refine and rewrite choices for action if necessary

Example: Sample Memorandum of Results

The following is a sample of results from a constituent survey of outcomes. It is in reference to a substance use initiative.

Memorandum of Results

Date: _________________________

To: (Leadership and Board of Directors of the Initiative)

CC: Program Officer, Funding source

From: Evaluation Team

RE: Results of the Outcome Survey for ____________________________

Enclosed please find the results of the Outcome Survey for _____________________. The purpose of the survey was to assess the significance of community changes resulting from the initiative's efforts according to its constituents. We had a reasonable response rate (13%), with 103 completed questionnaires from the 800 coalition members and policy makers to whom the survey was mailed. The attached report include the average rating and the range of responses for each question listed in order of occurrence on the survey. we conclude with written comments related to (the initiative's) accomplishments, a critical review of community changes, and recommendations for improvement.

In general, respondents rated the community changes facilitated by ________________ as "important," an average rating of 3.79 (with 5 the highest). Further, no community change received a rating below 3 (neither unimportant nor important). Taken together, the contribution of the reported community changes to the mission was rated as 4.21 (between important and very important).

The three top rated community changes involved changes in resource allocations or policy: City Council approves the addition of 32 additional police officers for the city, (Mean + 4.39, Range + 1-5), the new, "drive-by" shooting ordinance, approved by the City Council, increases the penalty to a maximum of one year (Mean + 4.38, range + 1-5), and based upon the effort of _______________________, the Governor signed the "drive-by" shooting bill to make shooting a firearm at a home a felony and revisions to the state "drive-by" shooting law (Mean + 4.37, Range + 1-5).

Among the lowest ranked community changes involved small, short-term, or symbolic efforts: _______________________ helped in the development of a job description for the new executive director position at SRS Family and Youth Commission (Mean = 3.06, Range = 1-5), mini-grant awarded to the Holy Savior School to give kids the opportunity to create a project to present at a fair in the Spring of 1992 (Mean + 3.12, Range + 1-5), __________________________ agrees to cosponsor the Great American Smoke-out (mean + 3.21, Range + 1-5), and commitment from the mayor to use drug-free life style sticker slogan on all city vehicles (Mean + 3.21, range + 1-5).

Most of the respondents also provided written comments. The comments are attached and are grouped according to accomplishments, a critical review of community changes, and recommendations for improvement.

You should be proud of these accomplishments. your constituents have noted the significant contributions of these many changes to _______________________'s mission of reducing substance use among adolescents. If you have any questions, please feel free to call us.

Tool 1: Cover Letter for Constituent Survey of Outcomes

This is a good beginning to your survey, it informs the person filling it out what your intentions are.

Cover Letter for Constituent Survey of Outcomes

Date:

Dear Members of (the initiative):

The purpose of the attached outcome survey is to get your feedback on how (the initiative) is doing. As you know, the mission of (the initiative) is to ________________________________ in ____________________________________ (city / county).

Please complete each question by circling the number that illustrates how important each community change is to the mission of (the initiative).

To protect anonymity, please use the enclosed self-addressed envelope and return your completed survey to our evaluators, the (name them).

Thanks in advance for your valuable advice and feedback.

Best regards,

_____________________

Executive Director

Enclosure

Tool 2: Sample Outcome Survey

This survey template can give you an idea of how to set up your own.

                                                             Outcome Survey

Please return by:

Staff and members of (the initiative) have been involved in efforts that resulted in a variety of community changes related to the mission of _________________.

This survey lists (#) community changes that resulted from the initiative's efforts. For each survey item, please circle the number that best describes how important each community change is to the initiative's mission of ______________________. Use the following scale to rate your answers.

This section is based on an article in the Work Group Evaluation Handbook: Evaluating and Supporting Community Initiatives for Health and Development by Stephen B. Fawcett, Adrienne Paine-Andrews, Vincent T. Francisco, Jerry Schultz, Kimber P. Richter, R.K. Lewis, E.L. Williams, K.J. Harris, Jannette Berkley, Jacqueline L. Fisher, and Christine M. Lopez of the Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.

• What is a goal attainment report?

• Why create a goal attainment report?

• When should you use a goal attainment report?

• How do you create a goal attainment report?

What is a goal attainment report?

A calendar, checklist, or project tracker can help you organize responsibilities and review what you have completed. A goal attainment report serves a similar purpose for a community initiative. It compares documented progress with the goals and objectives in your action plan, showing what has been completed, what remains underway, and where adjustments may be needed.

For example, a substance use prevention initiative might plan to deliver three workshops at a local high school between August and December. Its action plan could specify the topics, facilitators, intended participants, and delivery dates. This is an implementation objective supporting a broader prevention goal.

In January, the group could review its records to determine whether all three workshops took place as planned. If the agreed requirements were met, the report could mark that objective as complete. Workshop completion does not, by itself, demonstrate changes in substance use or well-being; those outcomes require additional evidence.

Why create a goal attainment report?

Reviewing completed steps can make a large project easier to manage. It helps people see how individual tasks contribute to a broader purpose and identify responsibilities that need attention. A goal attainment report provides a shared record for these discussions.

Recognizing progress can also help sustain motivation. At the same time, an honest account of unfinished work can reveal barriers, resource needs, or assumptions that should be reconsidered. The report is most useful when it supports both accountability and learning.

A goal attainment report can help you:

• Track progress toward clearly defined objectives over time
• Keep the initiative's work connected to its action plan and community priorities
• Communicate accomplishments, challenges, and next steps to community members, partners, and funders

When should you use a goal attainment report?

Establish the reporting process when you develop the action plan, and update records as work progresses. A six-month summary may be useful, but choose a schedule that matches your deadlines and decisions. Shorter projects may need more frequent reviews, while longer-term goals may require interim milestones. The time needed to prepare each report depends on the scope of the work and the quality of existing records.

How do you create a goal attainment report?

The following five steps can help you prepare and use a goal attainment report.

List the goals and objectives

Begin with the goals and objectives in your action plan. For each item, identify what completion means, the expected deadline, who is responsible, and what evidence will demonstrate progress. Distinguish activities, such as holding workshops, from community changes, such as adopting a new practice, and longer-term outcomes. Document any revisions to the plan so readers can understand what changed and why.

Identify completed goals and progress on unfinished work

Review supporting records with the people responsible for each objective. Record a completion date when the agreed requirements have been met, and note whether completion was on time. For unfinished items, describe progress, barriers, and next steps. For example, if a workshop scheduled for October 5 took place on October 12, record the actual date and the delay rather than treating completion and timeliness as the same measure.

Calculate the percentage of goals completed

Define which goals or objectives are included in the reporting period before calculating a percentage. You might report progress on all annual objectives or only those due by the review date; make that choice explicit. Count completed items using the agreed criteria, and describe partial progress separately. Explain any added, revised, or discontinued items rather than silently removing them from the calculation.

To calculate the percentage completed, divide the number of completed items by the total number included, then multiply by 100. If 13 of 16 annual objectives are complete, the calculation is (13 ÷ 16) × 100 = 81.25%, or about 81%. This is a completion rate, not a grade or proof of effectiveness. Objectives may differ greatly in importance, difficulty, and scope, so interpret the percentage alongside descriptions of what was accomplished. If no objectives are included in a reporting period, report the percentage as not applicable.

Communicate your results

Share a clear summary with community members, participants, staff, partners, and funders. Include the reporting period, the goals assessed, completion dates, evidence sources, and explanations of important delays or changes. Report accomplishments and unfinished work fairly, and distinguish progress on activities from evidence of community outcomes. Use accessible language and formats, with enough detail for readers to understand the figures.

Use the report to guide improvement

Review the findings with people involved in and affected by the initiative. If objectives were completed, ask what supported progress and whether the work contributed to the intended benefits. If progress was limited, examine factors such as resources, coordination, accessibility, timelines, or changing community conditions before deciding what to adjust.

Unfinished work can provide useful information about the action plan. Agree on specific changes, assign responsibilities, and set a date to review progress. Revise objectives when there is a sound reason, but preserve a record of the original commitments and the reasons for revision. A high completion rate should not replace attention to meaningful results, and a low rate should prompt inquiry rather than automatic blame.

In Summary

A goal attainment report provides a practical record of progress against agreed commitments. Use clear completion criteria, accurate records, and transparent calculations to show what has been achieved and what needs attention. Combined with evidence about participants' experiences and community outcomes, the report can support informed decisions about what to continue, adapt, or strengthen.

What are the reasons for making a goal attainment report?

___Show progress

___Stay focused

___Communicate you're good work to the public

How do you implement the process of writing a goal attainment report?

___Determine how often to gather data, usually every six months

___Write down all of your goals using your action plan

___Identify the goals you have completed

___Compute the percentage of goals completed

___Communicate your results

___Use the report to inspire positive change

This section is based on an article in the Work Group Evaluation Handbook: Evaluating and Supporting Community Initiatives for Health and Development by Stephen B. Fawcett, Adrienne Paine-Andrews, Vincent T. Francisco, Jerry Schultz, Kimber P. Richter, R.K. Lewis, E.L. Williams, K.J. Harris, Jannette Berkley, Jacqueline L. Fisher, and Christine M. Lopez of the Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.

• What are behavioral surveys?

• Why use behavioral surveys?

• When should you use behavioral surveys?

• How do you conduct a behavioral survey?

What are behavioral surveys?

Asking people about their experiences can help your group understand community needs, identify strengths, and decide where to focus its work. Different types of surveys answer different questions. Behavioral surveys focus on the actions people report taking in their everyday lives.

A behavioral survey asks people about specific behaviors related to their physical, emotional, or mental well-being. Topics might include tobacco and nicotine use, sexual health practices, physical activity, eating patterns, or use of preventive services. A survey can explore both behaviors associated with health risks and behaviors that support health.

Constituent surveys of goals, process, and outcomes primarily ask about people's priorities, experiences, and perceptions of an initiative. Behavioral surveys ask what people report doing, often within a defined period. These are self-reports, not direct observations. Recall, question wording, privacy, and concerns about how answers will be judged can influence responses. Recognizing these limitations helps your group design a useful survey and interpret its findings appropriately.

Why use behavioral surveys?

Behavioral surveys can help your initiative understand how common particular behaviors are among respondents and identify priorities for action. When the sample and methods support it, the findings can also provide estimates for a defined population. These results are most useful when considered alongside community members' experiences and information about the conditions that shape their choices, such as access to services, affordable food, transportation, and safe places to be active.

Survey findings can also help people understand an issue and discuss possible responses. For example, a survey might identify cigarette or e-cigarette use among middle school students. Reporting the findings clearly can support conversations about prevention, support for quitting, and the environments young people encounter. Explain who participated, when the survey was conducted, and what the results can reasonably tell you. Numbers alone do not make a finding representative or conclusive.

Behavioral surveys can contribute to evaluation by showing whether reported behaviors change over time. Responses may be affected by difficulty remembering events, differing interpretations of questions, or a desire to give socially acceptable answers. Participation patterns can also affect results if people who respond differ from those who do not. Clear questions, appropriate sampling, and a private setting can help improve data quality, although they cannot eliminate every source of error.

Repeated surveys might show, for example, that the percentage of students reporting cigarette use has declined. That is useful evidence of a trend, but it does not by itself establish that your initiative caused the change. Consider other influences, changes in who participated, and additional evidence about the initiative's reach and implementation. Use the findings to recognize progress and identify questions that need further investigation.

When should you use behavioral surveys?

Plan surveys around the decisions you need to make and the time needed for meaningful change to occur. When possible, collect baseline information before an initiative begins, followed by surveys at appropriate intervals. Depending on your objectives, an annual survey or a longer interval may be more useful than frequent data collection. Consider available resources, participant burden, and existing surveys before setting a schedule. Keep the timing, questions, and sampling methods as consistent as possible so that comparisons over time are meaningful.

How do you conduct a behavioral survey?

Conducting a behavioral survey involves four main steps.

Obtain behavioral data

Begin by defining your objectives. Your initiative already has broader objectives; now identify the specific questions this survey should answer. For example, do you want to estimate how many people report a behavior, understand differences across groups, or track change over time? Involve people from the population you hope to survey in deciding what information is useful and how to ask for it respectfully.

These questions can help you define the survey's objectives:

• What do we need to learn, and which decisions will the findings inform?
• Whose behaviors do we want to understand, and how will we include people whose experiences might otherwise be missed?
• How will the information help us assess progress and improve our initiative?

Next, decide whether to use an existing questionnaire, adapt selected questions, or develop a new survey. When suitable, use established questions that have been tested with a population similar to yours. Behavioral questions often ask about frequency, quantity, or a specific event within a defined period. These response formats are different from agreement scales commonly associated with Likert measures. Use clear wording and response options that do not overlap and that cover the possible answers. Test the survey with a small group of intended participants before distributing it more widely.

The following examples illustrate possible topics and question formats; they are not a validated questionnaire. Select questions that match your objectives and participants' ages, languages, and experiences. Allow people to skip questions, and include a separate "Not sure" or "Prefer not to answer" option where appropriate. Do not treat either response as indicating that a behavior did not occur.

If your focus is substance use, you might ask about tobacco and nicotine products, alcohol, cannabis, or other substances relevant to local priorities. Ask about each substance separately and explain which products are included. For example, distinguish nicotine vaping from cannabis vaping rather than combining both under an undefined question about vaping.

Possible substance use topics include:

• Cigarettes
• Other tobacco and nicotine products, with separate questions for smokeless tobacco, nicotine pouches, and e-cigarettes
• Alcohol
• Cannabis, also called marijuana
• Other substances relevant to the survey's purpose, such as cocaine

A possible question is:

During the past 30 days, on how many days did you use cannabis, also called marijuana?

• 0 days
• 1 to 2 days
• 3 to 9 days
• 10 to 19 days
• 20 to 30 days

If your focus is adolescent sexual health and pregnancy prevention, you might ask about:

• Specific sexual behaviors relevant to the survey's purpose, using clear and age-appropriate definitions
• Use of contraception and access to sexual health information and services, addressed in separate questions

A possible question is:

The most recent time you had penis-in-vagina sex during the past 30 days, did you or your partner use any method to prevent pregnancy?

• Yes
• No
• Not sure
• I did not have penis-in-vagina sex during the past 30 days
• Prefer not to answer

If your focus is tobacco prevention and support for quitting, you might ask about:

• Cigarette use, with separate questions for other tobacco and nicotine products
• Attempts to quit and access to support for quitting

A possible question is:

During the past 30 days, on how many days did you smoke cigarettes?

• 0 days
• 1 to 2 days
• 3 to 5 days
• 6 to 9 days
• 10 to 19 days
• 20 to 29 days
• All 30 days

If your focus is eating patterns related to cardiovascular health, you might ask about consumption of:

• Specific foods and beverages relevant to your objectives, using clearly defined categories
• Fruits and vegetables, asked about separately
• Whole-grain foods

A possible question is:

Yesterday, how many times did you eat fruit? Include fresh, frozen, canned, or dried fruit. Do not count fruit juice. Count each meal or snack when you ate fruit as one time, regardless of the amount.

___0 times
___1 time
___2 or more times

Use these examples to clarify what each question measures. Days of use do not tell you the amount used on each day. Contraception use at the most recent sexual encounter does not establish consistent use throughout the month or use of a particular method. A question about fruit eaten yesterday does not measure portion sizes, usual diet, or overall nutritional adequacy. Add focused questions when your objectives require that information, while keeping the survey manageable.

If you are surveying young people, work with schools and community partners to develop an appropriate recruitment and administration plan. A school-based survey may miss young people who are absent or not enrolled, so describe that limitation and consider additional ways to include them. Before collecting data, confirm the required school approvals, parent or guardian permission procedures, and any applicable ethics review. Explain participation to young people in language they understand and obtain their agreement to participate. Make clear that participation is voluntary and questions may be skipped. Arrange a private setting, explain how responses will be protected, and promise anonymity only if the survey does not collect information that can identify respondents.

For a survey of the broader community, define the population you want to describe and develop a sampling plan suited to that population. Telephone, mail, online, and in-person methods each reach some people more readily than others. An open online link or a survey of people attending one event may provide useful feedback, but it should not automatically be treated as representative of the whole community. Seek help with sampling when population estimates are central to your purpose, and provide accessible formats and language options.

Before collecting new data, ask local school districts, health departments, and community organizations whether they have relevant survey findings. Existing data can reduce duplication and participant burden. Check when and how the data were collected, which population they describe, and whether the questions match your needs. Use public summaries or appropriately protected data, and follow any conditions governing access and use.

For broader context, explore the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). YRBSS offers information about health-related behaviors among high school students, while BRFSS collects adult information about health behaviors, conditions, and access to care. Their questionnaires and documentation may also help you develop your survey. Check the population, survey year, and methods before comparing these findings with local results.

Tabulate the data

Review responses for missing information and inconsistencies, then calculate counts and percentages for the behaviors you defined. For a simple, unweighted percentage, divide the number of eligible respondents reporting a behavior by the number who provided a usable answer to that question, and multiply by 100. For example, 20 respondents reporting cigarette use out of 100 usable responses equals 20%. Do not count missing, "Not sure," or "Prefer not to answer" responses as "No." Explain how you handled these responses and any questions that did not apply to some participants. If the survey uses sampling weights or a complex design, obtain appropriate analysis support. Describe findings as applying to respondents unless the sampling and analysis support broader estimates.

Plot the data and share findings

Use clearly labeled charts to show patterns across time or groups. For example, you might graph the percentage of high school students reporting cigarette use during the past 30 days across several survey years. Keep the behavior definition, age or grade group, and reporting period consistent, and identify changes in questions or methods that could affect comparisons. Show sample sizes and uncertainty where appropriate. Protect privacy by avoiding reports about very small groups that could identify individuals. Share accessible summaries with participants, your initiative, and the community, and invite their perspectives on what the findings mean.

Use the data

Bring the findings to people who can help interpret them and act on them, including community members, program participants, staff, and local decision-makers. Explain both the findings and their limitations. Discuss which actions the evidence supports, what remains uncertain, and what additional information would help.

Ways to use the findings include:

• Identify needs and barriers to health. Survey results can help your group recognize where additional support or changes in services may be needed. For example, if respondents report less frequent use of contraception, explore the finding with young people and service providers. Consider access, cost, information, personal preferences, and other relevant circumstances before choosing a response. Avoid assuming that a single behavior measure explains pregnancy trends or that individual behavior is the only factor your initiative should address.
• Build public understanding of an issue. Explain results in plain language, with enough context to prevent misleading conclusions. If surveys show an increase in reported tobacco or nicotine use among students, specify the products, time period, and population measured. Use the findings to support constructive conversations about prevention and access to help, without labeling young people or particular communities as the problem.
• Assess progress and improve the initiative. Compare findings with your objectives and with other evidence, such as participation records, implementation information, and community feedback. Look for both intended and unexpected changes. Survey trends can help you decide what to strengthen or revise, but attributing those changes to the initiative requires an evaluation design and evidence that address other possible explanations.

Behavioral surveys are tools for learning and improvement. Agree on actions based on the findings, identify who will follow through, and tell participants how their input informed decisions. A useful survey does more than produce numbers: it helps your group respond to community priorities and assess whether its work is moving in the intended direction.

What are behavioral surveys?

___You understand that behavioral surveys ask people to respond to questions about certain actions or behaviors that affect their physical, emotional, or mental well-being

___You understand that behavioral surveys do not try to determine what people think; rather, they focus on what people do

___You understand that your group should recognize that the results will be subjective accounts of individual actions

What are the three basic uses of behavioral surveys?

___Behavioral surveys can shed light on exactly what the extent of the problem is in your community

___The data you receive from these surveys can be used to push the issue to the forefront of public awareness

___Behavioral surveys offer yet another way to evaluate the success of the initiative

What are the four basic steps for conducting a behavioral survey?

___Obtaining behavioral data

___Tabulating the data

___Plotting the data and providing feedback

___Using the data to determine the level of risk, raise public awareness, or evaluate your group's level of effectiveness

Conducting behavioral surveys:

___You will conduct behavioral surveys at regular intervals

___You have defined your objectives for the survey

___You have written questions related to your group's objectives that addresses the specific needs of your group and your community

___If appropriate, you've considered conducting a random phone survey to reach a sampling of the population

___If appropriate, you've checked with other area groups to see if any of them have already conducted a behavioral survey of their own that you can use

___If appropriate, you've considered contacting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta for information

___You have calculated the data to determine the percentage of people who engage in risk behaviors in your community and the extent of an issue in your community

___You've plotted the data in a chart form to have a visual representation of the problem and see the trends of the problem over time

___You've used the data to provide feedback to people involved in the initiative

___You've decided whether to use the data to help you determine where the greatest risk lies, and how you can continue to address that need in your community

___You've decided whether to use the data to raise public awareness about the issue

___You've decided whether to use the data to evaluate the effects of the initiative

Tool: General Resources for specific community concerns 

Substance Use

Organizations:

Local school district, regional prevention center, local and state health department, law enforcement agency, treatment service providers 

Surveys:

Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) (Available from the Office of Adolescent Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC}, 4770 Buford Highway, NE, Atlanta, GA 30333.) 

Adolescent Pregnancy

Organizations:

Local health department, local school districts, family planning organizations

Surveys:

• Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)
• Adolescent Curriculum Evaluation (Available from Dr. Murray Vincent, School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208.) 

Youth Violence

Organizations:

Local school districts, Center for Disease Prevention 

Surveys:

Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)

Cardiovascular Disease

Organizations:

Local and state health departments 

Surveys:

Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (BRFS) (Available from state health department or U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC].) 

Injury Control and Prevention

Organizations:

Local and state law enforcement agencies; state department of transportation 

Surveys:

Behavior Risk Factor Survey (BRFS) (Available from state health department or U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC].) 

Tobacco Control

Organizations:

Local and state health departments

Surveys:

Behavior Risk Factor Survey (BRFS) (Available from state health department or U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC].) 

This section is based on an article in the Work Group Evaluation Handbook: Evaluating and Supporting Community Initiatives for Health and Development by Stephen B. Fawcett, Adrienne Paine-Andrews, Vincent T. Francisco, Jerry Schultz, Kimber P. Richter, R.K. Lewis, E.L. Williams, K.J. Harris, Jannette Berkley, Jacqueline L. Fisher, and Christine M. Lopez of the Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.

• What does interviewing key participants involve?

• Why should you interview key participants and identify critical events?

• When should you conduct interviews with key participants?

• How should you conduct interviews with key participants?

What does interviewing key participants involve?

To understand an initiative, talk with people who know its work from different perspectives. Leaders and active members can offer valuable insights, as can staff, volunteers, program participants, community partners, and people directly affected by the initiative. Their knowledge may come from professional expertise, organizing experience, or everyday experiences in the community.

Interviews can help you understand how the initiative operates, what people have experienced, and which factors may have supported or limited progress. Alongside other evaluation methods, this information can guide improvements in your group's work with the community.

Key participant interviews are guided conversations with people who have relevant knowledge or experience of the initiative. Participants can describe what happened, what they learned, how they experienced activities, and what they would change. Interviews can also reveal concerns, differences in perspective, and important events in the initiative's development. Including people who participated less often, left the initiative, or disagreed with its approach can help you understand experiences that might otherwise be missed.

Critical events are milestones, turning points, or developments that participants consider important to the initiative's direction or progress. They may occur within the group, in the community, or in the broader environment. An event may create opportunities, introduce barriers, or affect people in different ways.

Critical events might include:

• Applying for, receiving, or losing funding
• Developing, adopting, or substantially revising an action plan
• Achieving an important objective or recognizing that an objective needs to change
• Responding to a crisis within the community or the initiative
• Changing the initiative's mission, leadership, or major partnerships
• Experiencing another significant development, such as a policy change or a shift in community priorities

Interviewing people who organized, participated in, or were affected by these events can help you identify their significance. Different participants may identify different turning points or interpret the same event differently. Those differences are useful information about how the initiative has developed and whom it has reached.

Why should you interview key participants and identify critical events?

Interviews allow you to explore experiences in depth. You can ask participants to explain an answer, give an example, or describe circumstances that a survey might not capture. Open-ended questions and attentive listening create opportunities to understand the initiative from participants' perspectives, including experiences you may not have anticipated.

Identifying critical events gives these conversations a useful focus. Examining what happened before, during, and after an event can help explain how the initiative changed and what your group can learn from that experience.

Interviews about critical events provide qualitative information

Monitoring systems and event logs can document activities, dates, participation, and other details. Counts of activities or participants provide quantitative information, while descriptions and notes can provide qualitative information. Both types of information help establish what the initiative did and the circumstances surrounding its work.

Interviews can add detail about how people experienced an event, why it mattered to them, and how they believe it affected the initiative. Qualitative information includes descriptions, accounts, and interpretations; it does not simply mean judgments about quality. Ask open-ended questions that invite participants to explain their experiences rather than only answering yes or no.

Questions might include:

• What made this event important to you or to the initiative?
• What changed afterward, if anything?
• Who had opportunities to participate or influence decisions, and who faced barriers?
• What worked well, what did not, and what examples support your assessment?
• How did the event reflect or conflict with the priorities and values of different community members?

Follow-up questions such as "Can you give an example?" or "What led you to that conclusion?" help participants explain their responses. Avoid suggesting that an event must have been successful, fair, or important. Leave room for uncertainty, mixed experiences, and disagreement.

Qualitative and quantitative information can complement each other. Comparing interview accounts with activity records, survey findings, and other evidence can reveal patterns, gaps, and contradictions. Combining methods does not automatically make conclusions more accurate; the value depends on the quality of the information and how carefully you interpret it.

Critical events can provide a history of the initiative

Tracking critical events helps document how the initiative began, adapted, and developed. A timeline can show achievements, setbacks, changes in direction, and lessons that shaped later decisions. Compare participants' recollections with available records to clarify dates and details, and acknowledge uncertainty when accounts differ.

Critical events can help identify factors that supported or limited progress

Exploring critical events can reveal actions, relationships, resources, and outside conditions that participants believe affected progress. Use these accounts to investigate possible explanations rather than treating them as proof of cause and effect. Consider whether an approach that worked in one situation would need to change under different conditions.

Critical events can inform planning and renewal

Use what you learn to reconsider priorities, strengthen effective practices, and address barriers. Interviews can also help your group recognize contributions and achievements that routine records overlook. Discuss the findings with participants and community partners so that future plans reflect both the initiative's goals and the experiences of people involved in its work.

When should you conduct interviews with key participants?

Schedule interviews when the findings can inform decisions. Useful times include after an important event, during a periodic review, before revising an action plan, or as leadership or funding arrangements change. Interviews near the end of a grant period can support reflection, but earlier conversations allow more time to act on what you learn. Balance the value of timely accounts with participants' availability, your resources, and the need to avoid repeatedly asking people for information without sharing results.

How should you conduct interviews with key participants?

Prepare interviewers to ask clear questions, listen without judgment, and document responses accurately. Practice with a colleague or a small group before beginning. Agree on the purpose of the interviews, how you will protect participants' information, and how the findings will be used.

There are four main steps to conducting key participant interviews.

Determine whom to interview

Identify the experiences and perspectives needed to answer your evaluation questions. Ask initiative members and community partners to suggest participants, but do not rely only on nominations of highly visible contributors. Include people with different roles, lengths of involvement, and experiences of the initiative, especially people directly affected by its work.

Create a participant list that reflects those perspectives, then review whose experiences may be missing. A small initial set of interviews can help you begin, but four or five people may not capture the range of experiences relevant to your questions. Choose the number of interviews based on the evaluation's purpose, the diversity of experiences, and available resources. Explain how participants were selected and avoid presenting their views as representative of everyone in the community.

Conduct the interviews

Develop an interview guide with a manageable set of open-ended questions. Use the same core topics across interviews so you can compare accounts, while allowing follow-up questions that explore each participant's experience. Begin with a brief explanation of the initiative and the period you want to discuss, and clarify what you mean by a critical event.

Questions might include:

• Which events or turning points stand out in the initiative's history, and what was your involvement in them?
• What made each event important, and to whom?
• What was happening within the initiative and the community at the time?
• What actions, people, partnerships, and resources shaped what happened?
• What barriers, disagreements, or concerns arose, and how were they addressed?
• What intended or unintended changes followed for the initiative and the community, and how did different people experience them?
• What lessons would you draw from these experiences, and what might others see differently?
• What should the initiative continue, change, or explore next?

Offer participants the topics or questions in advance so they have time to reflect and locate relevant records if they wish. Explain the expected length of the conversation, how the information will be used, and who will have access to it. Make participation voluntary and let people know they may decline questions or end the interview. Ask about language, accessibility, scheduling, and other needs that would help them participate comfortably.

Interviews can take place in person, by phone, or through a video call, depending on participants' preferences and access. Choose a setting where others are unlikely to overhear. Interviewers may be evaluation team members or other people trained for the role; consider whether existing relationships or differences in authority could discourage candid responses. Obtain explicit permission before recording, and offer note-taking as an alternative. Recordings can support accurate documentation, but they do not guarantee accurate accounts. Check notes or transcripts for errors, limit access, and establish how long the material will be retained.

Build trust by listening carefully, using neutral follow-up questions, and respecting participants' boundaries. Do not promise anonymity when the interviewer knows a participant's identity. Instead, explain how confidentiality will be handled and any limits to it. Be clear about whether names or quotations may appear in reports and obtain permission for identifiable attribution. In a small initiative, even an unnamed description may reveal who spoke, so consider that risk when reporting findings.

Bring the information together

Review the notes or transcripts systematically, organizing information by event and recurring theme. Prepare a timeline where useful, distinguish documented details from participants' interpretations, and retain differing accounts rather than forcing agreement. Look for both common patterns and experiences that challenge the main interpretation. Compare accounts with other records when available. The report should explain whom you interviewed, how you analyzed the information, and the limitations of the findings. Where appropriate, invite participants to check summaries for factual errors or missing context without requiring them to agree with every conclusion.

Use the findings to understand the initiative and guide future action

Share an accessible summary with participants and others involved in planning. Discuss what the interviews suggest about the initiative's development, strengths, barriers, and opportunities for improvement. Decide which actions to take, who will be responsible, and when you will review progress. Explain how the findings informed those decisions, including suggestions that need further investigation or cannot be acted on immediately.

Bringing the findings into practice

Key participant interviews help explain how people have experienced an initiative and why particular events mattered to them. They can preserve its history, reveal overlooked perspectives, and identify useful directions for change. Their value comes from thoughtful participant selection, respectful conversations, careful interpretation, and follow-through. Used alongside other evidence, interviews can help your group make better-informed decisions with the community.

You understand that critical events might include:

___Applying for grant funds

___Brainstorming, writing, editing, and completing a draft of your action plan

___Fulfilling any or all of your group's objectives

___Facing a crisis in your community or within your group

___Changing the direction of your mission

___Any other major event

You understand why it is important to interview key participants regarding key events:

___Critical events provide qualitative information

___Critical events can provide a history of the initiative

___Critical events help identify factors that affected the initiative's success or failure

___Critical events can provide you with insights for planning and renewal efforts

___You understand the importance of conducting interviews with key participants at least every few years, or at the end of a grant period

You know how to conduct interviews with key participants:

___Determine who will be interviewed

___Conduct the interviews

___Put the information together (perhaps in the form of a report)

___Use the data to better understand the initiative, provide a history, and aid in renewal efforts

Example: Sample Interview about critical event

Here are some examples of responses from an interview in which the participant discussed the critical event of action planning with her group.

Rationale

The action plan kept us on a time line. Things were no longer pie in the sky. We put up time lines that gave us something to go against. The action plans are very much a working document.

Context / Conditions

The coalition had spent a year talking in generalities. We were ready to get down to action. We were holding press conferences that made a commitment to the public to do something. We took all the change objectives and laid out our action plan by task forces. Each task force met to further develop the action plan. Most of us were not used to being in a true collaboration. The diversity of the group required that we figure out how people fit. If we didn't define roles, we would lose people.

Key actions and actors

Judy Johnston, Paula Marmet, Steve Coen, Mary Clark, Tom Ryan, Maggie Chamberlain, and David Banks were key leaders. They forced us to decide what we were going to do. The monthly brainstorming was very helpful. The survey of importance and feasibility was very critical. The survey gave all the task force members and partners a chance to get involved.

Barriers and Resistance

Since people had experienced other types of strategic planning, some eyes rolled where we started. Some thought it would not produce anything useful. Eventually people believed that this planning process would be different.

Key resources

The task forces still had control over what would be pursued. Steve Coen was very helpful in providing technical support.

Consequences for the coalition

The strategic plan made the coalition members feel that we were finally underway. It helped with public perception. We now had substance. This is what we are and what we do. It brought the coalition together on its priorities. For example, the emphasis on early nutrition made it easier for people to see that children were a priority for the coalition. It also made it much easier to talk with potential funders.

Consequences for the community

Strategic planning got programs in place. Without it, we might not have begun to work on the childcare curriculum. The action plan put programs out there that weren't there before. Action planning also helped us to pull in new partners. As the plan grew, additional partners become obvious. Partners could see how they could be involved with the coalition and the mission.

Tool: Template for conducting interview about critical events

This form can be used to gather important information when interviewing group members.

Background Information

Initiative:

Key Participant:

Participant's position / involvement with the initiative

Date and Time:

Location:

Interviewer:

Critical Events

List all critical events, and then for each, ask about the following aspects:

Rationale: Why was this event particularly important?

Context / Conditions: What was going on at the time of the event? What made the conditions right for this to happen?

Key actions and actors: What key actions brought about the critical event? Who were the key actors?

Barriers and resistance: Were the group's actions met with barriers or resistance? What types of barriers? Who resisted?

Key resources: What key resources (e.g., people, financial resources, political influence) were used to bring about the critical event? How were these resources used to overcome barriers and resistance?

Consequences for the initiative: What were the consequences or results of the critical event for the initiative?

Consequences for the community: What were the consequences for the community?

Overall lessons: Overall, what lessons have you learned from your involvement with the initiative? What lessons have you learned from the initiative's attempts to define and act on its mission?

Future directions: What issues does the initiative face in the future? What challenges should be addressed?

This section is based on an article in the Work Group Evaluation Handbook: Evaluating and Supporting Community Initiatives for Health and Development by Stephen B. Fawcett, Adrienne Paine-Andrews, Vincent T. Francisco, Jerry Schultz, Kimber P. Richter, R.K. Lewis, E.L. Williams, K.J. Harris, Jannette Berkley, Jacqueline L. Fisher, and Christine M. Lopez of the Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.

• What are community-level indicators?

• Why should you use community-level indicators?

• When should you examine community-level indicators?

• How do you select and use community-level indicators?

What are community-level indicators?

Community-level indicators are measures that help describe conditions, experiences, or outcomes across a defined community. Examples include rates of preventable injuries, access to affordable housing, or the percentage of residents reporting a particular health behavior. While activity records, surveys, goal attainment reports, and interviews help explain an initiative's work, community-level indicators show broader patterns that the initiative hopes to influence. Changes in these indicators do not, by themselves, establish that the initiative caused those changes.

Start with measures that are relevant to community priorities and supported by appropriate evidence and data sources. For an initiative addressing alcohol-related harms, one possible indicator is the rate of emergency medical transports recorded as alcohol-related. Interpreting that measure requires knowing how cases are identified and whether reporting practices, service availability, or the population have changed. No single indicator provides a complete picture, so select a manageable set of measures that reflects your goals.

Why should you use community-level indicators?

Community-level indicators connect your initiative's activities with the broader conditions it seeks to improve. They can help identify priorities, track trends, and assess whether progress is reaching different parts of the community. Used alongside other evaluation information, they support more informed decisions about where to focus your work.

Community-level indicators help track progress toward community outcomes.

Indicators provide a consistent way to examine whether conditions are moving toward agreed goals. Examples might include rates of traffic injuries or hospital admissions for violence-related injuries. Choose measures that closely match the outcome you want to understand: nighttime crashes, for example, should not automatically be treated as alcohol-related crashes. Track measures over time, document their limitations, and consider whether changes in service access, reporting, or population size could affect the results.

Community-level indicators help assess whether the initiative's strategies align with observed changes.

If your action plan includes several strategies, indicators can show whether the outcomes those strategies aim to influence are changing. However, a community-wide trend usually cannot tell you which specific activity produced a change. Combine indicators with implementation records, participant experiences, and an appropriate evaluation design to investigate the initiative's contribution and other possible explanations.

Community-level indicators can bring attention to continuing needs.

Findings that show persistent or worsening conditions can support public discussion about unmet needs and barriers to progress. For example, an unchanged traffic injury rate may prompt your group to examine which roads or populations face the greatest risks and whether current strategies reach them. Before drawing conclusions, consider the time needed for change, the reliability of the data, and other influences. Use the findings to inform action without overstating what they demonstrate.

Community-level indicators can support continued investment.

Favorable trends can help communicate progress toward shared goals and support discussions about sustaining or expanding useful work. Explain what changed, who experienced the change, and what evidence connects the initiative to it. Acknowledge contributions from community members, partner organizations, and other efforts. Report mixed findings and remaining needs as openly as improvements so that requests for support rest on a credible account of progress.

When should you examine community-level indicators?

Select indicators during planning, before activities begin whenever possible. Review existing historical data to understand baseline conditions and trends. This helps your group set realistic objectives, identify gaps in available information, and decide when changes might reasonably become visible.

Continue reviewing indicators at intervals that match the availability of data and the decisions you need to make. Some sources are updated frequently, while others are released annually or less often. Community outcomes may take longer to change than participation or service delivery measures. Use those earlier measures to guide implementation while continuing to track longer-term outcomes.

Review the indicators at major milestones and after the project ends when follow-up is feasible and useful. A new survey is not always necessary; existing administrative records or population surveys may provide suitable information. Allow enough time for expected outcomes to emerge, and document any changes in measurement that could affect comparisons.

How do you select and use community-level indicators?

There are five main steps to selecting and using community-level indicators.

Select indicators that are relevant, credible, feasible to obtain, and responsive to meaningful change

Work with staff, community members, and people with relevant data expertise to decide what progress should look like and how to measure it. For each indicator, define the population, geographic area, time period, data source, and calculation. Consider whether the measure captures the intended outcome, whether it can detect meaningful change, and whether it can reveal differences within the community. Balance the usefulness of the information with the cost and effort of obtaining it.

Suppose your initiative aims to reduce cannabis use among high school students. A relevant indicator might be the percentage of students reporting cannabis use during the past 30 days in a survey designed to represent local high school students. Arrest counts would not be a direct measure of cannabis use: they also reflect enforcement practices, legal definitions, and reporting. Choose the measure that best answers your question, and recognize that a school-based survey may not describe young people who are not enrolled or are absent when it is administered.

Contact relevant agencies and organizations to locate data

Identify local, regional, state, tribal, or national organizations that collect relevant information. Depending on your objectives, sources might include health departments, school districts, transportation agencies, housing organizations, hospitals, or community research partnerships. Ask about the population covered, collection methods, release schedule, missing information, and any restrictions on use. Data available for a county or state may not accurately describe a particular neighborhood.

For the cannabis use example, contact the school district or health department to ask whether comparable local student survey estimates are available for several years. Confirm that the questions, grade levels, sampling methods, and geographic coverage are sufficiently consistent for comparison. Ask whether estimates use survey weights and whether measures of uncertainty are available. If suitable local data do not exist, document that gap rather than presenting state or national findings as local results.

Compile, summarize, and graph the data

Organize the information in a report with clearly labeled graphs, charts, or tables. Record the source and definition of each measure, including any changes across reporting periods. Distinguish counts from percentages and rates: a larger number of events may reflect population growth rather than a higher likelihood of an event. Where appropriate, report both the number of events and a rate using the relevant population. Explain uncertainty and avoid displaying small groups in ways that could identify individuals.

For the student survey example, graph the percentage reporting cannabis use during the past 30 days for each available survey year. Include observations from before the initiative began when possible, and mark when major strategies were introduced. Keep the population and measure consistent, and show uncertainty where available. A change after implementation is worth investigating, but timing alone does not establish cause and effect. Comparison data and information about other community changes can help you interpret the pattern.

Share findings with community members, organizational leaders, governing boards, and funders

Present findings in accessible language and formats that meet your audiences' needs. Explain what the indicators show, what they do not show, and how they relate to community priorities. Share progress, continuing challenges, and differences across groups when the data support those comparisons and privacy can be protected. Invite community members to help interpret the results, and avoid descriptions that blame or stigmatize the people represented in the data.

Use the findings to inform public priorities and improve the initiative

Review the findings alongside information about implementation, community experiences, and available resources. Identify what the results suggest about continuing needs and possible improvements. Agree on specific next steps, assign responsibility, and decide when to review progress. Indicators are most useful when they inform decisions rather than serving only as figures in a report.

If reported cannabis use among high school students remains unchanged, examine whether your strategies reached the intended students, whether enough time has passed, and whether the estimate is precise enough to detect a meaningful change. Discuss the findings with young people, schools, health professionals, and community partners. Their perspectives can help identify barriers, strengthen relevant supports, and determine whether the initiative should adjust its approach. Do not interpret arrest patterns or survey results alone as evidence of substance use disorders.

Interpret both favorable and unfavorable trends in context. Improvement may signal a need to sustain effective supports rather than immediately shift resources elsewhere. Unchanged or worsening indicators may reflect implementation problems, broader conditions, measurement changes, or an approach that needs revision. They warrant investigation rather than an automatic conclusion of failure. Use the full body of evidence to decide whether to maintain, adapt, expand, or discontinue particular strategies.

Using indicators for continued learning

Community-level indicators help your group understand broader conditions and track progress toward shared goals. Their value depends on selecting meaningful measures, interpreting them carefully, and acting on what you learn. Combined with other evaluation methods and community perspectives, they can support useful feedback and ongoing improvements in your initiative's work.

___You know what community-level indicators are

___You understand why you should use community-level indicators

___You know that they provide bottom-line evidence of the impact of your initiative

___You know that they help determine the effects of key components

___You know that they help push issues to the forefront of the public agenda

___You know that they can help secure more support

___You know when you should evaluate community-level indicators

___You know how to find community-level indicators

___You have selected indicators that are available

___You have contacted relevant agencies to find data

___You have compiled, summarized and graphed data

___You have presented the data to the community

___You have used the data to bring attention to your issue

All examples are from Fawcett, S.B., Paine-Andrews, A., Francisco, V.T., Schultz, J.A., Richter, K.P., Lewis, R.K., Williams, E.L., Harris, K.J., Berkley, J.Y., Fisher, J.L., & Lopez, C.M. (1994). Work Group Evaluation Handbook: Evaluating and Supporting Community Initiatives for Health and Development. Lawrence, KS: Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development, University of Kansas.

Example 1: Recommended Community-Level Indicators for Substance Use Coalitions

• Number of single-car nighttime vehicle accidents
• Number of drug positives from urine samples of arrested people
• Number of arrests for drug possession
• Cost and purity of street drugs
• Number of drug positives from urine samples of pregnant women at the time of delivery
• Number of alcohol or drug (AOD)-related emergency room episodes
• Number of AOD-related deaths
• Number of individuals on waiting lists for and admissions to in-patient and out-patient AOD program service
• Number of referrals and admissions to mental health centers for AOD problems
• Incidence of AOD-related birth outcomes (e.g., fetal alcohol syndrome, positive drug toxicology)
• Incidence of drug-related sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV transmission in AIDS cases
• Incidence of AOD-related medical conditions (e.g., cirrhosis of the liver, hepatitis)
• Number of drug positives from urine samples of job applicants and employees
• Aggregate per capita consumption of alcohol, based on alcohol tax revenue data
• Student alcohol and drug abuse
• Juvenile arrests for drug offenses
• Adult arrests for drug offenses
• Marijuana plants seized
• Positives in pre-employment drug testing
• Employees with employee assistance programs
• People treated for substance use problems
• Teen alcohol-involved traffic deaths
• Adult alcohol-involved traffic deaths
• Drug overdose deaths

Example 2: Recommended community-level indicators for adolescent pregnancy prevention initiatives

The estimated pregnancy rate for females aged 15-19 is the most commonly used indicator for adolescent pregnancy. Data may also be available for females ages 10-19 and 10-14. Currently, the majority of the pregnancies occur within the 15 to 19 year old age group.

The formula for calculating the estimated pregnancy rate is as follows: (live births + fetal deaths + reported abortion) / population of females age 15-19 x 1000.) This formula can also be used to calculate the estimated pregnancy rate for females of different ages. Epidemiological data such as these rely on the accuracy of both the numerator and denominator. Limitations of each are described below.

Abortion data include only those reported by hospitals and clinics participating in state health department report systems. Because of their sensitivity, abortion data tend to be underreported. For example, in a typical county in 1993, 6.6% of adolescent pregnancies reportedly resulted in an abortion. Yet, nationally, it is estimated that 36% of adolescent pregnancies result in abortions.

Population estimates for the age group may come from different sources. Estimates are available from the Census Bureau and as well as from state offices such as health departments and university research institutes. Population estimates may come from different sources over a given time period. For example, population estimates for years 1 through 5 may have been provide by the state Census Bureau and for years 6 through 10 by a local research institute.

It is important to know the data that are needed to compute the estimated pregnancy rate for a given age group and their limitations. Because of the difficulty in securing data on abortions and population size with absolute certainty, the estimated pregnancy rate for adolescents age 15 through 19 remains an "estimate." Issues around reporting by hospitals in a given area and the accuracy of recording place of residence of the mother may also come into play when exploring the accuracy of estimated pregnancy rate as an indicator. Changes in data collection that may have occurred over the period of the prevention initiative, and a few years prior, should also be explored with the state health department's statistician. This way, you can give the initiative a sense of whether changes in the estimated pregnancy rate could be due to a change in reporting rather than as a result of the initiative.

Example 3: Recommended Community-Level Indicators for Tobacco Control Initiatives

Per capita consumption of tobacco products represents the most objective data available on population levels of tobacco consumption. Data are available from the state health department (or department of revenue) based on the excise taxes that are imposed on tobacco products. Excise taxes are collected at the level of tobacco distributors. This information is available on a monthly basis.

Variability from month to month may be an artifact of this measure. It may reflect patterns of stocking at the retail level. When systematic seasonal variations are adjusted for, however, collective sales data provide the best available estimate of total tobacco use.

The main limitation of these data is that they do not provide information on the behavior of consumers. A change in consumption rate is a composite of many individuals ? uptake and quitting behavior. For example, a drop in cigarette sales may be the result of the same people smoking fewer cigarettes or fewer people smoking. Nor do consumption data indicate what changes in special populations, such as young women or ethnic minorities, might be reflected in the data. Despite these limitations, tobacco consumption remains the best community-level indicator.

Example 4: Recommended Community-Level Indicators for Injury Prevention and Control Initiatives

• Deaths due to unintentional injuries
• Hospitalizations due to unintentional injury
• Deaths caused by motor vehicle crashes
• Deaths from falls and fall-related injuries
• Drowning deaths
• Hip fractures among older adults
• Emergency room admission for non-fatal poisonings
• Hospitalizations due to non-fatal head injuries
• Hospitalizations due to non-fatal spinal injuries
• Secondary injuries associated with injuries to the head and spinal cord
• Deaths due to farm-related injuries
• Hospitalizations due to farm-related injuries
• Local sources of other measures may include coroner and police reports, data from walk-in clinics and emergency rooms, child care centers, schools, nursing homes, social service agencies, senior services, large businesses, and insurance companies

Example 5: Recommended Community-Level Indicators for Violence Prevention Initiatives

• Uniform Crime Reports, Federal Bureau of Investigation / Department of Justice : Published annually; includes crimes such as rape, assault, homicide, and robbery
• National Crime Survey and National Victimization Survey: Administered annually ; includes questions about spouse, child and elder abuse
• National Center for Health Statistics Mortality Data and Centers for Disease Control Mortality Data (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA), which includes data collected based on the ninth edition of the international Classification of Diseases; summarizes the deaths in the United States by cause and demographics
• State Crime Data (for example, from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation): Published annually; includes the same information given to the FBI for their Uniform Crime Reports, but is broken down by county and metropolitan areas
• State Incident Based Reporting System (for example, from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation): Unpublished data; includes information provided by police agencies through "Standard Offense Reports" and "Standard Arrest Reports"
• State Juvenile Justice Information System (for example, from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation): Unpublished data; includes the same information provided by the Incident Based Reporting System as well as information from Child in Need of Care or Child in Need of Services reporting
• Local sources of data may include coroner reports and local police reports, information collected by the school district on the incidence and prevalence of assaults, and information collected by local women's shelters and social service agencies about spouse abuse

Example 6: Sustainable Seattle's Fourth Set of Regional Sustainability Indicators

After the release of its 1998 Indicators, Sustainable Seattle decided to reassess its indicator program.  The board was concerned that merely publishing the indicators, as Sustainable Seattle did in 1993, 1995, and 1998, was not sufficient and that a successful program should include programs which support actions by citizens, businesses and policy makers to affect the trends documented by the indicators. It has taken several years for the organization to build the professional staff capacity to support an expanded indicator program.

Consider this illustrative example: the Payneside Health-for-All Coalition wanted to understand whether health services were becoming more accessible throughout the community. It selected indicators such as the percentage of adults with a usual source of care, the percentage who delayed care because of cost, and the use of community clinics across age groups. It also reviewed participation in hospital financial assistance programs and access to subsidized home care for older adults. These measures showed changes in access and service use, while interviews helped explain residents' experiences. Together, the findings helped the coalition identify progress and remaining barriers. The indicators alone did not establish that the coalition caused the changes, but they provided useful evidence for improving its work.

In the previous section, Gathering and Using Community-Level Indicators, we introduced community-level indicators and discussed why, when, and how to use them. Examples addressed substance use, prevention of unintended pregnancies among adolescents, tobacco control, injury prevention, and violence prevention. This section explains how to select indicators that fit your objectives and offers examples across several fields.

What are community-level indicators?

Community-level indicators describe conditions, experiences, or outcomes for a population rather than a single individual. They may come from administrative records, surveys, observations, or other sources. For example, a population survey can estimate the percentage of adults who smoke cigarettes. Cigarette sales provide a different measure: purchases within an area, which may include purchases by visitors and exclude residents' purchases elsewhere. Choose an indicator based on what you need to understand, and be clear about what it actually measures.

Local health departments, public data systems, and community research organizations can help you locate indicators. The former Health Indicators Warehouse (HIW) was retired in 2016 and should not be treated as a current data source. County Health Rankings & Roadmaps provides county health measures and documentation; its former individual rankings were replaced by Health Groups, and it did not produce a 2026 annual data release, although selected measures were updated. Check the date and coverage of each dataset. For demographic and economic information, the U.S. Census Bureau is another useful starting point. Additional sources appear in the Internet Resources section.

Indicators can measure outcomes directly or describe conditions that may influence them. For example, a rate of documented alcohol-involved crashes measures a particular harm, while the amount of retail space devoted to alcohol describes the retail environment. Neither measure captures every aspect of alcohol use. Select indicators with a clear relationship to your objectives, and avoid assuming that an indirect measure proves a behavior or outcome.

Useful indicators should be:

• Relevant to the community's priorities and the evaluation questions
• Available, or feasible to collect with appropriate permissions and resources
• Usable in practice and understandable to the people making decisions
• Clearly defined and measurable using consistent methods
• Supported by evidence or a clear rationale — Explain why the measure is relevant to the issue and where its limitations lie.
• Reliable enough to support the comparisons you intend to make
• Appropriate to the expected timing of change — Leading indicators may signal changes that precede later outcomes, while other indicators document outcomes that take longer to emerge. A leading indicator is useful only when there is a reasonable basis for expecting that relationship; it does not guarantee what will happen next.
• Relevant to decisions about policy, programs, or community action

Some general considerations

• Match the indicator to the time frame of your work. Some health outcomes reflect exposures and conditions accumulated over many years. Lung cancer rates, for example, cannot provide a timely measure of changes in smoking during a short prevention initiative. Cardiovascular outcomes also have multiple influences and should not be treated as a direct measure of recent eating or activity patterns. Use near-term measures to assess early progress and longer-term outcomes to understand sustained change.
• Indirect measures can offer useful clues, but their meaning needs investigation. More shelf space for nutritious foods may indicate greater availability, a retailer's marketing decision, or changes in demand. It does not establish that residents can afford those foods or are eating them more often. Pair observations of the retail environment with measures of affordability, purchasing, or residents' experiences when those questions matter.

How might you use community-level indicators?

Community assessment. Indicators can help identify strengths, needs, and differences in conditions across a community. For example, disease rates or access to services may vary across geographic areas or population groups. School meal participation and the availability of breakfast programs can provide information about access to food assistance, but they are also affected by program rules and participation practices. They should not be used alone to estimate child hunger or household income. 

Indicators can also help assess changes that occur during community initiatives. A decline in the percentage of residents delaying medical care because of cost may be consistent with improved access after a clinic opens. However, insurance changes, other services, or economic conditions may also contribute. Examine indicators alongside implementation information and community feedback before drawing conclusions about an initiative's effects.

Accountability. Indicators can help your group report progress toward its commitments. An affordable housing initiative might track the number of homes affordable to households at specified income levels, housing costs as a share of income, and displacement. An economic opportunity initiative might examine employment, earnings, and job quality. Define the measures in advance and report both progress and unmet objectives, including differences across groups.

Evaluation. Use indicators to assess progress toward the outcomes your initiative seeks. A substance use prevention or treatment initiative might track access to treatment, treatment waiting times, and rates of substance-related emergency department visits. Interpret each measure carefully: increased treatment admissions may reflect improved access, greater need, or both. Arrests and nighttime crashes are not direct measures of substance use and should not substitute for measures that more closely match your evaluation question.

Policy change. Indicators can help identify a need for policy change and assess what happens after a policy is implemented. For example, an initiative concerned about housing stability among older adults and residents with lower incomes might examine housing costs, tax-related financial strain, and involuntary moves. If a property tax assistance policy is introduced, track participation and housing stability over time. Home sales alone cannot tell you why people moved or whether the policy helped them remain in their homes.

How do you choose community-level indicators?

Decide exactly what you want to learn. Identify your evaluation questions with community members and others who will use the findings. If your initiative aims to improve health care access, you might want to know how many residents delay care because of cost, which groups face the greatest barriers, and whether those barriers decrease over time.

Determine what information would answer those questions. Consider insurance coverage, access to a usual source of care, appointment availability, transportation, language access, and out-of-pocket costs. When measuring preventive care, define eligibility using the relevant recommendations rather than assuming that everyone needs the same services or annual screening schedule. Plan to collect comparable information later.

Choose indicators that reflect the information you need and can be measured consistently. Examples include the percentage of residents with a usual source of primary care and the percentage who delay treatment or prescriptions because of cost. Emergency department data may provide additional information about access barriers, but frequent visits do not by themselves establish that someone lacks primary care. Specify each indicator's population, time period, data source, numerator, and denominator.

Measure the indicators and interpret the results with the community. If residents are not receiving needed services, investigate the reasons before selecting a response. Information campaigns may help when people lack relevant information, but other barriers may require changes in cost, scheduling, transportation, accessibility, or service availability. Use residents' experiences to understand what the numbers mean.

Continue tracking useful indicators and revise the set when necessary. Preserve consistent definitions where possible, document changes in methods, and explain gaps in the data. Use the findings to assess progress and adjust your work, while recognizing that community trends alone do not establish an initiative's causal impact.

Examples of community-level indicators

The examples below cover health, human services and education, community development, public safety, and the environment. They include measures of conditions, resources, service use, and outcomes; not every measure is an outcome or has an automatically desirable direction of change. Select and define those that fit your objectives, and consider whose experiences the available data may miss. If you would like to suggest additional indicators, email toolbox@ku.edu.

Indicators are often most useful when tracked over time or compared across similar populations. Rates and percentages account for population size. For example, 20 new cases of a condition in a population of 10,000 during one year correspond to 200 new cases per 100,000 people that year: (20 ÷ 10,000) × 100,000. Use consistent case definitions, populations, and time periods. Rates alone do not make every comparison fair; age differences, data quality, and small numbers may require adjustment or cautious interpretation. Protect privacy when reporting small groups.

Health

Health indicators can address well-being, prevention, local health priorities, and access to care. Include measures of the conditions that support health as well as illness and service use. The examples below are options for evaluation, not recommendations that every person receive every service.

Well-being and ongoing health care. Indicators can describe access to routine care, opportunities for physical activity, and the availability of nutritious food. Measures of services received should reflect the needs and eligibility of the population being assessed. Examples include:

• Percentage of adults with a usual primary care provider
• Percentage of adults reporting a routine health care visit in the past 12 months, interpreted as a service-use measure
• Percentage of adults receiving dental care within a defined period
• Percentage of adults receiving vision care or screening appropriate to their needs
• Percentage of children receiving recommended preventive health visits
• Percentage of children receiving dental care within a defined period
• Percentage of eligible children receiving recommended vision screening
• Timing of entry into prenatal care and access to recommended prenatal services
• Availability, affordability, and shelf space of foods meeting clearly defined nutritional criteria, without treating organic labeling as a measure of nutritional quality
• Retail space and advertising devoted to tobacco and nicotine products
• Number and distribution of alcohol retail outlets relative to population or geographic area
• Length, connectivity, condition, and accessibility of walking, cycling, and recreational routes

Disease and injury prevention. These indicators can track access to preventive services and changes in preventable harms. Define eligibility and measurement periods using the relevant guidance, and distinguish the availability of a service from its use. Examples include:

• Percentage of adults aged 65 and older who received influenza vaccination during the specified season
• Percentage of children with documented receipt of recommended vaccinations appropriate to their age
• Percentage of eligible people receiving recommended cancer screenings, using the appropriate age, risk, and screening intervals for each measure
• Availability and affordability of condoms and other sexual health resources, with separate measures of reported use, sexually transmitted infections, and unintended pregnancies where appropriate
• Percentage of schools providing age-appropriate sexuality education, with information about content, accessibility, and student reach
• Access to indicated tuberculosis and other infectious disease testing among people experiencing homelessness, including follow-up care
• Rates of traffic crashes and injuries, with alcohol involvement reported separately when reliably documented

Identifying and addressing local health priorities. Health needs may reflect environmental exposures, working conditions, access to care, housing, food access, and other influences. Individual and family medical histories can also matter. Avoid treating race, ethnicity, or culture as a simple explanation for health differences. Examine both outcomes and the conditions that may contribute to them, and involve affected communities in interpreting the findings.

• Results of appropriate screening and diagnostic assessments for conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, HIV, tuberculosis, and cancer, with attention to who was tested and who may have been missed
• Rates of hospital admission and death associated with specified diseases or conditions, using consistent definitions
• Recorded rates of pregnancy loss, stillbirth, and congenital conditions, with appropriate denominators and acknowledgment of incomplete reporting
• Infant mortality, low birth weight, and recorded diagnoses of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, measured separately using appropriate definitions
• Prevalence of obesity among children using appropriate age-based measures, interpreted alongside other information about health and living conditions
• Rates of emergency department visits for asthma, including differences by age and neighborhood
• Prevalence of untreated tooth decay among children assessed, with attention to children who lack access to dental care
• Children's access to and use of mental health services, including waiting times and unmet needs

Access to health services. The presence of health facilities does not ensure that everyone can use them. Cost, transportation, scheduling, language, disability access, and experiences of discrimination may create barriers. Combine measures of service capacity with information about whether residents can obtain the care they need.

• Number and geographic distribution of practicing primary care providers
• Ratio of residents to primary care providers, with a clearly defined provider count and service area
• Percentage of residents with a usual source of primary care
• Proportion of insured residents whose coverage includes the preventive services being assessed
• Proportion of eligible residents receiving appropriate, evidence-based preventive services
• Percentage of residents without health insurance, and the availability and use of free or sliding-fee clinics
• Percentage of dental providers accepting Medicaid and availability of appointments for new Medicaid patients
• Percentage of emergency department patients reporting no usual source of primary care, when that information is collected reliably
• Proportion of residents unable to obtain or delaying needed medical care, dental care, or prescription medicines, and their reported reasons
• Emergency department waiting times, interpreted by urgency of need and the service being measured
• Number of older adults receiving needed home-based health and support services, alongside estimates of unmet need
• Waiting times for non-emergency appointments, including preventive visits, follow-up care, and care for chronic conditions
• Physical, communication, and digital accessibility of health facilities and services for people with disabilities
• Availability and response times of ambulance and emergency medical services, including rural coverage
• Availability and use of qualified language interpreters and accessible communication services in health care settings

Human services and education

Human services include public assistance, housing and emergency support, employment training, youth development, mediation, mental health care, violence prevention, and services for older adults and people with disabilities. They also include support for immigrants and refugees, language access, and assistance with protecting people's rights. Indicators can describe both access to these services and the outcomes people seek through them.

Education includes early childhood programs, elementary and secondary schools, special education and disability supports, postsecondary education, adult literacy, language learning, and workforce education. Learning may take place in person, online, or through a combination of formats. Consider accessibility, affordability, participation, and learning outcomes across these settings.

Services for children, young people, and families. Indicators may address material resources, educational opportunities, family supports, employment, safety, and access to services. Family structure or service use alone should not be treated as evidence that a child is doing well or poorly. Examples include:

• Number and percentage of families with incomes below specified poverty thresholds or income cutoffs, and eligibility for assistance such as subsidized childcare or school meals, using the correct measure for each purpose

The U.S. Census Bureau's poverty thresholds are used to produce official poverty statistics. The Department of Health and Human Services' poverty guidelines are a related but different measure used for some program eligibility decisions. Guidelines are updated annually and have separate amounts for Alaska and Hawaii. Neither measure fully captures every household's local living costs or circumstances. Programs use different eligibility rules, sometimes expressed as a percentage of the guidelines. Identify the measure, year, household or family definition, and eligibility rules used rather than referring vaguely to a single "poverty line."

• Children's living arrangements, including living with one or more parents, relatives, other caregivers, or in foster care, interpreted without ranking family types
• Number and rates of young people involved with the juvenile justice system, distinguishing complaints, arrests, referrals, petitions, and case outcomes

Some referrals involve status offenses, such as truancy or running away, that are treated differently from acts that would be crimes if committed by adults. Terminology and procedures vary by jurisdiction. Avoid describing young people as "uncontrollable." Examine the circumstances behind referrals, access to family and community supports, and opportunities to respond without court involvement.

• Access to support for parents, kinship caregivers, foster families, and other caregivers, including unmet needs and waiting times
• Availability and use of diversion and community-based support programs for young people referred to the juvenile justice system
• Number of young people in residential treatment, detention, or other out-of-home placements, reported separately by setting and purpose
• Reports and findings of child maltreatment, including abuse and neglect, distinguished by source and case status; these records do not capture all incidents and should not equate material hardship with neglect
• Number of families with children using food assistance, health care, mental health care, childcare, energy assistance, and family support services, including services for pregnant and parenting adolescents
• Employment participation, job quality, and access to appropriate work opportunities among young people aged 16 to 18
• Access to and use of sexual and reproductive health services among adolescents, reported in age groups that protect privacy
• Referrals to and receipt of substance use treatment among people younger than 21, with separate measures of waiting times and unmet need
• Availability and reach of outreach, housing, and support services for young people experiencing homelessness

Emergency assistance and basic needs. These services help people obtain food, shelter, safety, health care, and other essentials during crises or periods of financial strain. Service records show who was reached, but not everyone who needed help. Interpret use alongside eligibility, capacity, access barriers, and unmet needs.

• Estimates of people experiencing sheltered and unsheltered homelessness, using clearly defined methods and acknowledging people missed by counts or service records
• Number of people receiving public assistance or disability benefits, interpreted alongside eligibility and participation barriers
• Use of food banks, community meal programs, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), alongside direct measures of food insecurity
• Number of households receiving energy assistance and reporting difficulty paying utility bills
• Waiting times for subsidized housing, availability of affordable homes, and housing costs as a share of household income
• Access to shelter, counseling, housing assistance, and other supports for survivors of domestic violence, with strong protection of identifying information
• Number of people using mental health crisis services, response times, and connection to follow-up support

Ongoing support and opportunities. Employment, education, housing, transportation, and accessible community services can support stability and well-being. These services often work alongside emergency assistance. Examine whether people can obtain the support they need and whether it helps them achieve their own goals.

• Unemployment rate among people in the labor force, considered alongside labor force participation and underemployment
• Enrollment and waiting lists for adult literacy, foundational education, and language-learning programs
• Percentage of adults who have not completed a high school diploma or equivalent credential
• Availability, affordability, and accessibility of childcare for families facing economic barriers
• Coverage, frequency, affordability, and accessibility of public transportation
• Availability of accessible housing, assisted living, and home- and community-based supports for older adults and people with disabilities
• Availability and use of voluntary community mediation for appropriate family, housing, neighborhood, or organizational disputes, including participants' assessments of fairness and safety
• Reports, investigations, and resolutions of discrimination complaints involving employment, housing, lending, or other services
• Availability, affordability, and waiting times for community mental health services
• Availability and use of housing, employment, health care, and other reentry supports for people returning from incarceration
• Physical, communication, and digital accessibility of services and agencies for people with disabilities

Education. Indicators can cover learning opportunities from early childhood through adulthood, including public, private, and community-based programs. Focus on access, affordability, inclusion, quality, and outcomes. The presence of a particular school type or the amount spent per student does not, by itself, establish educational quality.

• Availability and use of affordable early childhood education, including Head Start, subsidized programs, and school district offerings
• School completion, attendance, and learning progress, using clearly defined measures and examining differences in access to support
• Availability and quality of bilingual education, English language development, and supports for newcomer students
• Class sizes, school building conditions, educator compensation and retention, and resources per student, interpreted in local context
• Availability and use of scholarships or tuition assistance for local students at private schools and colleges
• Percentage of students attending private or religious schools, used as a descriptive measure of enrollment patterns
• Availability, accessibility, and outcomes of alternative education programs and charter schools
• Percentage of local graduates entering and completing college, vocational education, apprenticeships, or other postsecondary pathways
• Availability and use of community scholarships for postsecondary education and training
• Accessibility of educational buildings, materials, technology, instruction, and student supports for people with disabilities

Community development

Community development includes economic opportunity, social connection, population changes, and cultural life. Indicators should reflect residents' priorities and help identify who benefits from development and who may face new barriers or displacement.

Economic conditions. Examine both community-wide patterns and differences across groups or neighborhoods. Pair measures of growth with information about affordability, job quality, and financial security. Possible indicators include:

• Number of new businesses established annually and their continuation over time
• Business closures and bankruptcies, reported separately and interpreted in context
• Median household income and the distribution of income, adjusted for inflation when comparing years
• Educational attainment and access to further education or training
• Unemployment, labor force participation, and underemployment
• Local revenue from taxes and fees, considered alongside population, service needs, and the distribution of costs
• Percentage of businesses that are locally owned, using a clear definition of local ownership
• Travel time, cost, and transportation options for commuting to work
• Delinquency and default rates on business and mortgage loans, reported separately
• Housing prices and rents relative to local household incomes
• Percentage of occupied homes that are owner-occupied, alongside measures of security and affordability for both homeowners and renters
• Separate measures of poverty, homelessness, and participation in public assistance programs, without treating these experiences as interchangeable
• School meal eligibility and participation, interpreted according to local program rules and universal meal availability

Social and demographic conditions. Social indicators describe participation, relationships, belonging, and access to influence. Demographic indicators describe characteristics such as age, race, ethnicity, gender, language, and where people live. These measures can help identify changing service needs and unequal access to opportunities. Collect only information that is useful for your purpose, protect privacy, and avoid treating a group's identity or family structure as a problem.

• Availability and accessibility of community organizations, faith communities, gathering places, and opportunities for social connection
• Voter turnout, with the denominator clearly identified as eligible voters, registered voters, or another defined population
• Household and caregiving arrangements, including access to support for different family types
• Population composition and trends by age, race, ethnicity, language, and other relevant characteristics, using consistent categories where possible
• Residential patterns, access to shared spaces and services, and residents' experiences of inclusion or segregation
• Availability, participation, and influence of neighborhood associations, community advocacy groups, oversight bodies, and other resident-led organizations

Cultural life. Cultural indicators can describe access to arts, entertainment, knowledge, heritage, and opportunities for creative expression. They can also reflect the languages, traditions, and practices of the community's many groups. Consider affordability, accessibility, participation, and whose experiences are represented in cultural institutions and events.

• Number, distribution, and accessibility of theaters, concert venues, community arts spaces, and other performance settings
• Availability and attendance of free or affordable music, dance, theater, film, and literary events
• Access to affordable and inclusive arts learning opportunities for children
• Availability and use of free or affordable arts and community education classes for adults
• Types, accessibility, community representation, and attendance of museums and cultural institutions
• Public library hours, locations, accessibility, digital resources, and use
• Availability, affordability, and participation in after-school and summer recreation programs
• Opportunities to participate in cultural, religious, and intercultural events

Public safety

Public safety includes preventing violence and injury, preparing for emergencies, responding effectively to crises, and protecting people's rights. Relevant measures may address traffic safety, fire protection, disaster readiness, violence prevention, emergency services, and trust in public institutions. Include residents' experiences of safety and fairness rather than relying only on agency records.

The examples below include prevention, response capacity, accountability, and reported harm. More personnel or more enforcement does not automatically mean greater safety. Recorded incidents also depend on reporting practices, access to help, and public trust, so interpret them alongside other evidence.

• Coverage and testing of emergency management plans, accessible warning and evacuation systems, and measures that reduce risks from locally relevant hazards such as floods, earthquakes, severe storms, and extreme heat
• Fire and emergency response capacity and response times across neighborhoods
• Availability and use of community violence prevention programs, well-maintained lighting, and other locally selected safety measures
• Residents' reported experiences of police interactions, trust, and fairness, including perspectives of young people, people from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, and residents facing economic barriers
• Representation of the community's racial, ethnic, language, and other relevant backgrounds within police personnel and leadership
• Differences in access to protection, response times, stops, searches, arrests, and enforcement outcomes across neighborhoods and population groups
• Availability, accessibility, independence, and activity of community oversight or police accountability bodies
• Reports of police misconduct, discriminatory profiling, or excessive force, with separate measures of investigations, findings, and corrective actions
• Annual number and rate of homicides, with attention to uncertainty when counts are small
• Reported violent incidents, including sexual assault, robbery, and domestic violence, supplemented by other sources where possible to address underreporting
• Reported violence involving people younger than 18, distinguishing those harmed from those suspected of or found responsible for causing harm
• Number and rate of arrests involving people younger than 18, interpreted as a measure of justice-system contact rather than proof of offending
• Reported crime rates and residents' experiences of safety by neighborhood, accounting for differences in reporting and population exposure
• Police staffing, roles, and deployment, considered alongside prevention, crisis response, and other community safety resources

The environment

The natural and built environments shape daily life, health, mobility, and access to recreation. Relevant conditions include parks and open space, housing and infrastructure, air and water quality, and exposure to environmental hazards. Examine how benefits and burdens are distributed across neighborhoods. Describe disinvestment or maintenance needs without implying that residents or their communities are responsible for those conditions.

• Amount, condition, distribution, and accessibility of parks, open space, forests, farmland, wildlife habitat, and other natural areas
• Amount and ecological condition of protected land, with clear definitions of protection
• Preservation and restoration of historic buildings and places, including community participation in deciding what is recognized and protected
• Drinking water quality, reliability, affordability, and supply, including measured contaminants and interruptions in service
• Air quality and exposure to pollutants across locations and seasons
• Measured changes in local government energy use, emissions, and other environmental impacts, including those from public transportation and service vehicles
• Access to and use of waste reduction, recycling, and appropriate hazardous waste collection services for households and businesses
• Environmental monitoring, inspections, documented violations, and corrective actions involving businesses, industry, and other relevant sources
• Support for accessible public art and community participation in its creation, location, and maintenance

These examples are starting points; many other community-level indicators are possible. Choose a manageable set that answers your questions, reflects community priorities, and can be interpreted responsibly.

Putting indicators to use

Community-level indicators help describe conditions and track changes across populations. They can support assessment, evaluation, accountability, and policy discussions when their definitions, data sources, and limitations are clear. Combine existing data with local knowledge, examine differences within the community, and avoid treating a single measure as a complete account of people's experiences. Use the findings to guide decisions and report back to the people whose lives the indicators describe.

We encourage the reproduction of this material, but ask that you credit the Community Tool Box: www.ctb.ku.edu

What are community-level indicators?

___Community-level indicators are measures taken from objective information, observation, or other methods that look at what actually happens

What can you use community-level indicators for?

___Evaluation

___Assessment

___Accountability

___Policy making

How do you choose community-level indicators?

___Decide on your goals

___Determine the information you need

___Choose measurable community-level indicators that reflect that information

___Measure indicators, and analyze the results

___Continue to use indicators, and add others as necessary, to monitor issues, evaluate success, and change approach, methods, and focus where appropriate, based on what the indicators tell you

Example 1: Using Community-Level Indicators for Anti-Displacement Work

All-In Cities has compiled a list of community-level indicators they use to gauge the impact of their anti-displacement efforts which can be found here.

They look for positive changes in these indicators:

• Increased number of low-income people and people of color who are in long-term affordable homes.
• Increase in business and home ownership by people of color.
• Increased political participation of people from communities impacted by displacement, including increasing public resources for impacted communities to build power and increase impact in decision-making and political spheres.
• Reduction in evictions and foreclosures.
• Reduction in people who are unhoused.
• Reduction in displacement of local businesses owned by people of color.
• Reduction in cultural displacement.
• Reduction in housing-cost burdens, particularly for women, people of color, Indigenous women, marginalized LGBTQ people, and women of color who are most burdened.