Northeast SARE

Webinar for Invited Research and Education

Grant Applicants

August 12, 2015

www.nesare.org

Purpose

To help you fully understand the application process, so you can write strong proposals.

Type your questions in the ‘question box’ as we go, or at the end of the webinar.

Outcome Funding

• A system for assuring results of ‘investments’

• Adopted by Northeast SARE’s Administrative

Council over a decade ago

• Benefits both the grantor and grantee

• Focus is on measurable positive change

…not on well-intentioned activities

Key components

Performance target

Beneficiaries

Milestones

Engagement

Key individuals

Verification

Performance Target

Specific, measurable changes expected in behavior or condition of

the people (beneficiaries) that your project is educating.

In other words: exactly what do you expect to happen with your

target audience if your project succeeds?

A strong target describes:

• specific verifiable change

• the scale of that change

• the resulting benefits (measured, or

calculated based on existing knowledge)

The next few slides describe the development of a performance target. (It may or may not have a related research program.)

(Note: in this example farmers are not the primary beneficiaries, so it is not a project that Northeast SARE would fund.)

Possible performance targets for a project focused on improving the

diets of school children.

Children eat healthier school food.

100 children in 2 schools eat

healthier food.

100 children attending 2 Vermont

schools eat more fruits and

vegetables.

100 children attending 2 Vermont

schools eat one serving of both

fruits and vegetables with their

lunches.

100 children attending 2 Vermont

schools eat one serving of both

fruits and vegetables with 180

lunches per year, over 3 years.

100 children attending 2 Vermont

schools eat one serving of both

fruits and vegetables with 180

lunches per year, over 3 years,

reducing their average Body Mass

Index by 2 points.

Attributes of a strong target

Verifiable by end of the project (e.g. BMI vs. diabetes; sales vs. profitability)

Based on data that supports the change is needed or wanted by beneficiaries

Success does not depend on results of proposed research. (But project verification can capture impacts of research later.)

Example of an education program and research program connection

Example of an education program and research program connection

“The effect of school lunch menus on caloric intake and BMI of children.”

• The education program seeks to achieve a performance target

• The research program seeks to test a hypothesis

Education Program

• Kids and school cooks learn about nutrition

• School cooks visit farms and buy their products

• School cooks adopt menus with more fruits and veggies (onions?)

• Kids eat more fruits and veggies…have lower BMI

Research Program

• School lunch menus high in onion are developed

• Kids’ response to these menus is measured

• Kids’ caloric intake with different menus is compared

• High onion menus reduce caloric intake (…or not)

Education program

Education program

Research program

Research program

PerformanceTarget

PerformanceTarget

Research results

Research results

??

An unacceptable target:

100 children eat school lunches

high in onions for 3 years, reducing

their BMI by an average of 2 points.

This depends on new research results!

What are milestones?

The BENEFICIARY actions or steps that must happen to ensure that a

project is on course to achieve its performance target

Not what YOU do -- what THEY do

A simple Outcome Framework example

MILESTONE 2200 attend workshops

TARGET 10 use new info

MILESTONE 3

60 attend field demo

MILESTONE 1

MILESTONE 3

PERFORMANCE TARGET

MILESTONE 11000 learn about project

MILESTONE 2

MILESTONE 4MILESTONE 415 write a plan

• Describe essential beneficiary actions

• Help you engage people in the project

• Provide a timeline for activities

• Monitoring tool to assure target is reached

• Allow course corrections if needed

How do milestones help?

Example: cover crop research and education

Research hypothesis: new cover species will benefit soil health in some specific way

200 farmers attend workshops where they learnabout known benefits of cover crops,

and about the ongoing research into new species

200 farmers attend workshops where they learnabout known benefits of cover crops,

and about the ongoing research into new species

60 farmers attend a field demonstration of known cover crops and new cover crop species

60 farmers attend a field demonstration of known cover crops and new cover crop species

40 farmers plant known cover crops on 2,000 acres40 farmers plant known cover crops on 2,000 acres

IF research results prompt some farmers to also plant new cover crops on X acres, that should be reported!

Research and Outcome Funding

Some researchers believe that outcome funding’s emphasis on behavior change makes it impossible to perform research

Not true, but… outcome funding does require an extension / outreach program as part of the project

Key Individuals

The ‘leadership team’

Contribute a key component to the project

Provide letters of commitment

EngagementBeneficiaries help plan the project

They know what the target is and what data will be needed from them over time

Ongoing feedback is collected

Support is provided (in addition to information)

through consulting, assistance with planning and data collection, monitoring progress, etc.

Verification

Planned from the beginning

Done throughout project: for milestones

Target is verified after project activities (allow time for behavior change to occur)

Requires tracking beneficiaries – who they are and what they do as result of project

Success with verification

Tell the beneficiaries about the target and verification process -- at start of project

Collect any information needed as you go

Develop effective verification tools; share them with beneficiaries ahead of time

Be persistent in engaging beneficiaries

Northeast SARE’S Review Process

it is interactive…

nesare.org

• Preproposal feedback; this webinar

• On-line materials (Guide to Applicants)

• Clarity questions (if needed) from first tier panel of reviewers

• Second tier review panel ranks all proposals and Administrative Council decides on funding

• ‘Pre-award’ conf. call with approved projects

Timeline

- Full proposals due October 15, 2015

- Clarity questions answered by email early Dec.

- AC meeting in mid February

- Funding decisions announced late February 2016

- Pre-award conference calls in March or April

- Contracts issued late summer

Questions?

www.nesare.orgwww.nesare.org