Nonprofit Organizations

Community-based, regional and national nonprofits use Success Measures to plan and carry out practical evaluations that engage key stakeholders and staff in identifying the most important results to measure, collecting relevant data and working together to analyze and apply new learning. With assistance from Success Measures staff and, evaluation consultants, combined with training, information and technology resources, organizations enhance their evaluation skills and embed ongoing learning and analysis into their programs.   End users of Success Measures products and services include practitioners from a variety of community development organizations in urban and rural areas throughout the country who are interested in moving beyond performance measurement to examine longer-term outcomes. These consist of community development corporations, comprehensive human service providers, community development financial institutions, and regional intermediaries, such as:

Community Housing Partners (CHP)

A community development corporation that is a leading regional provider of affordable, green, sustainable housing opportunities and services for low income and low wealth individuals and families in Virginia, North Carolina and Florida. Success Measures assisted Community Housing Partners in designing a comprehensive outcome evaluation framework for its programs. CHP now assesses resident satisfaction with neighborhood quality of life, property conditions and values, and perceptions of non-resident stakeholders of the communities surrounding the location of its affordable multi-family rental housing developments. CHP also tracks tenant satisfaction with property maintenance and management, the economic impact of its housing rehabilitation and construction efforts as well as energy savings to demonstrate the impact of its affordable housing programs.  

East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC)

An experienced comprehensive community-based organization serving diverse low income populations of Oakland and the East Bay area of California. Develops affordable housing, small businesses and community facilities through integrated services focused on tenants and neighborhood residents. Used Success Measures financial capability tools to track consumer saving and spending behavior in order to measure the impact of its financial coaching programs.  

Habitat for Humanity (HFH) St. Tammany West

Since 1981, has served the St. Tammany West parish, a community of more than 250,000 on Lake Pontchartrain across from New Orleans, creating hundreds of affordable homes for low and moderate income families through Habitat’s volunteer labor, “sweat equity” program. Since 2008, the St. Tammany West affiliate has partnered with Success Measures, using a variety of indicators to track and assess the value to new homeowners of having participated in HFH’s homeownership and financial education programs. Individual Success Measures surveys addressed feelings of personal effectiveness, impacts of homeownership on children, increased sense of safety, and how the overall quality of Habitat homes compared to residents’ prior homes.  

Housing and Neighborhood Development Services (HANDS)

A community development corporation that has implemented and refined neighborhood revitalization efforts in Orange and East Orange, New Jersey for over 20 years, HANDS’ strategies focus on redevelopment of vacant properties, homeownership for first-time homebuyers, strengthening neighborhood organizations, and stimulating private sector investment. HANDS is using Success Measures community stabilization indicators, conducting observations of physical conditions of a neighborhood hit hard by foreclosures, combined with resident surveys of an adjacent neighborhood, to inform and guide its stabilization efforts. 

IMPACT Services

A multi-service nonprofit working to revitalize a Philadelphia neighborhood of 30,000 residents through programs aimed at creating jobs, helping people enter the workforce, and strengthening community. In 2007 and 2009, as part of a five-year comprehensive revitalization plan to guide housing investment and redevelopment, and with support from the Wells Fargo Regional Foundation, IMPACT Services utilized Success Measures’ resident satisfaction survey related to different quality of life aspects. The survey included questions customized to capture information on neighborhood interactions and perceived benefits, as well as residents’ hope for the community’s future. 

Primavera Foundation

A comprehensive social service and community development organization that provides affordable housing, workforce development, and neighborhood revitalization programs in southern Arizona, Primavera uses Success Measures in several ways. The organization took part in the field testing of the Success Measures financial capability tools and is now using them to track changes in the financial behavior and status of its financial education and housing counseling clients. Primavera also assesses the effectiveness of its efforts to stabilize the South Tucson community by measuring community confidence, property conditions, market health, and external perceptions of the neighborhood.   

Southwest Solutions

A community-based organization that has provided human service, housing, neighborhood revitalization, and economic development programs in Southwest Detroit for more than 40 years, Southwest Solution is using Success Measures community stabilization evaluation tools to examine changes in key neighborhoods. A particular focus of the evaluation is related to residents’ perceptions of the quality of public services, including public safety issues.