Data-Driven Decision-Making (D3) Institute brings 16 nonprofits together
CFT’S D3 INSTITUTE supports nonprofits that provide services to low-income working families, giving those organizations tools they can use to accelerate solutions to the social and economic problems facing North Texas. The 16 selected agencies are at the tail end of a rigorous 12-month curriculum focused on data and evaluation.
“Participating in the D3 Institute has pushed us beyond community-level metrics to look also at family-level metrics and how our programming affects our partner families in the short- and long-term,” said Jane Massey, director of neighborhood research and revitalization for Dallas Area Habitatfor Humanity. “In fact, later this year we plan to launch our first comprehensive survey of all our current homeowners (1,000+ families!) to learn how their lives have changed since purchasing their homes.”
Justin Banta, strategic development manager of H.I.S. Bridge Builders, remarked how the new evaluation and reporting tools they have created as part of D3 are helping them achieve a greater level of accountability to their board, donors and the clients they serve. “Our Community Employment Services program now has over 53 service outcomes that we track and report on, which help us ask smarter questions about continuing to improve and help people in ways we hadn’t previously considered,” said Banta.
“The energy in the room is contagious, and it’s been an invaluable opportunity to network with other nonprofits to learn how they’re using data to better serve their target populations,” said Claire Grant, grants manager for Genesis Women’s Shelter. Banta agreed: “As a result of the D3 process, we are still meeting regularly with a group of D3 agencies that we previously had little to no relationship with
in order to coordinate services and develop a lasting learning and resource sharing network.”