Performance Management Training Series

In 2012-13, the Homeless Youth Capacity Building Project is offering a Performance Management Training Series. Each year, up to twelve small to medium-sized organizations will be selected through a competitive application process to participate in the Training Series. The purpose of the Training Series is to assist smaller organizations which provide direct services to homeless youth in improving the quality of their services or increasing the number of youth they serve.

From January to October, participating organizations will receive up to 15 hours of targeted technical assistance and participate in series of three in-person trainings and two web seminars. Together, these activities will enable participants to build skills in setting clear outcomes, gather data to measure progress, and use data to make decisions and set strategies (collectively known as Performance Management).

Organizations from Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino have been selected for participation in 2012; and organizations from Alameda, Fresno, San Francisco and Santa Clara will be selected for participation in 2013.

Training Series participants will learn and practice:

• how to select outcomes and benchmark indicators
• what kind of performance measures to capture, and what tools to use to capture them
• how to create teams to analyze data and create strategies to improve performance and impact
• how to organize and share data so that it tells a story that staff, funders, and other stakeholders can use to better understand the program

Training Series participants can expect to gain the following:

• direct improvement in at least one identified critical area related to direct service provided by their organization
• increased ability to raise funds by building its reputation as a data-driven organization which makes decisions based on data and strives for continuous improvement
• increased ability to understand which of its programs, processes, and activities are performing well (or not), and understand the reasons why

While the Training Series and technical assistance is valued at $3,500, the 2012 and 2013 cohorts will be able to attend at no cost thanks to generous support from the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Ahmanson Foundation, California Wellness Foundation, S.H. Cowell Foundation, Morris Stulsaft Foundation, and the Walter S. Johnson Foundation. Travel stipends are also available to organizations for any travel over 40 miles round trip to attend in-person trainings.

View the Training Series timeline here.