OMB No. XXXX-XXXX
Expiration Date: xx/xx/xxxx
Intermediary Survey
Compassion Capital Fund Demonstration Program Evaluation
Introduction
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, is conducting a study to examine the benefits of services (financial assistance/sub-awards, technical assistance and training) provided by intermediary organizations funded through the Compassion Capital Fund (CCF).
As part of this study, we are surveying all intermediary organizations that started a new grant in fiscal year 2003, 2004 and 2005. Your participation in completing this survey will greatly benefit the study. The survey will enable us to characterize the diversity of intermediary approaches and help us better understand the responses from baseline and follow-up surveys completed by the faith-based and community organizations you assist under the CCF Demonstration Program. In addition, the survey results will assist the Administration for Children and Families in documenting program operations more fully, assessing what is learned from your experience and improving the CCF Demonstration Program, as appropriate.
All information obtained through this survey will be kept confidential, to the extent provided by law. Information provided in this survey will be accessed solely by staff at Abt Associates and Branch Associates, the research firms responsible for conducting the evaluation of the Compassion Capital Fund Demonstration Program. Results of the study will be reported in aggregate only. Completing this survey is voluntary.
Instructions:
This survey asks about how your organization implemented the CCF demonstration grant. Some intermediaries received multiple CCF grants and/or changed how they ran their program over time. Unless otherwise specified, survey responses should address the operation of your CCF program during the “most recent CCF grant period” which refers to the following time period:
September 2005 – September 2006 for intermediaries whose 3-year CCF grant award started in 2003 or 2004;
September 2005 – February 2007 for intermediaries whose 17-month CCF grant award started in 2005.
Other terms and definitions as applied in the survey include:
Technical assistance – we mean customized assistance provided either one-on-one or in a small group to individual(s) from a single organization.
Training and Workshops– we mean group workshops, conferences or seminars provided to individuals from multiple organizations.
Sub-awards/Financial assistance – we mean monetary payments made under the auspices of the CCF grant to faith-based and community organizations.
Please return this survey in the enclosed pre-stamped envelope by (insert date approximately 30 days after receipt).
If you have any questions, please contact Barbara Fink at Branch Associates (215) 731-9980 or bfink@branchassoc.com. Thank you for completing this survey!
Intermediary Survey
Name of your organization ___________________________________________
Street Address _____________________________________________________
City______________________________________________________________
State______________________________________________________________
Zip code__________________________________________________________
Name of individual completing this survey_______________________________
Title _____________________________________________________________
Phone Number _____________________________________________________
Email address______________________________________________________
Name of alternate contact person_______________________________________
Phone Number for alternate contact person_______________________________
Email address for alternate contact person________________________________
What is your CCF funded grant program called?___________________________________________________
Please answer the following questions about your organization.
Organizational Features
Which of the following best describes your organization? (check one)
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Check the box that best describes your organization:
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In the most recent CCF grant period, what geographic area(s) did you serve? (check one)
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What is your organization’s most recent total annual operating budget (including your CCF grant)? $_____________________
Prior Experience
Prior to your initial CCF award:
a) Had your organization received a federal grant?
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b) Had your organization received a federal contract?
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Prior to your initial CCF Demonstration Program award, did your organization have experience providing financial assistance awards to other organizations (e.g., sub-granting funds)?
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If yes to Question 6 (whether or not it was on a competitive basis), did your organization have experience providing financial assistance to (check one):
Faith-based organizations
Secular Community organizations
Both faith based and secular community organizations
b) If yes to Question 6 (whether or not it was on a competitive basis), was the financial assistance primarily intended to support the building of organizational capacity of such organizations (as compared to support of direct service provision by the organizations)?
Yes
No
Prior to your initial CCF award, did your organization have experience providing technical assistance?
No
Yes
If yes, did you provide technical assistance to: (check one)
Faith based organizations only
Secular community organizations only
Both faith based and secular community organizations
b) If yes, was the technical assistance specifically related to building the organizational capacity of such organizations?
Yes
No
Prior to your initial CCF award, did your organization have experience providing group training or workshops?
No
Yes
a) If yes, did you provide group training or workshops to (check one)
Faith based organizations only
Secular community organizations only
Both faith based and secular community organizations
If yes, did the group training or workshops specifically relate to building the organizational capacity of such organizations?
Yes
No
Prior to your initial CCF award, did your organization utilize consultants/contractors in the provision of :
Training or Workshops ___ Yes ___No
Technical Assistance ___ Yes ___No
Staffing
During the most recent CCF grant period, who provided one-on-one Technical Assistance as part of your CCF-funded program? (check/complete all that apply)
Staff from your organization. How many staff ? ____________
Staff from another organization/consultants. How many others/consultants? _________
During the most recent CCF grant period, who led Training sessions or workshops as part of your CCF-funded program? (check/complete all that apply)
Staff from your organization How many staff ? ____________
Staff from another organization/consultants. How many others/consultants? _________
(note: the numbers of staff in Q10 and Q11 may be duplicated counts if some staff did both)
CCF Faith-based and Community Organization Selection Process
Which of the following best/most closely describes how your organization recruited organizations to participate in
a. CCF supported sub-awards: (check one)
We broadly publicized the availability of sub-awards (saturate the service area).
We targeted notifications of sub-award availability (targeted recruitment).
b. CCF supported technical assistance:
We broadly publicized the availability of technical assistance services (saturate the service area).
We targeted notifications of the availability of technical assistance services (targeted recruitment).
c. CCF supported training and workshops:
We broadly publicized the availability of training/workshops (saturate the service area).
We targeted notifications of the availability of training/workshops (targeted recruitment).
During the most recent CCF grant period, did your organization focus primarily on organizations working in specific area(s) of social service (e.g. at-risk youth) in choosing organizations with which to work?
No
Yes
a) If yes, which of the CCF priority areas were addressed by the organizations you served? (check all that apply)
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During the most recent CCF grant period, in order for an organization to receive a CCF supported sub-award from your organization which of the following applied?
Years of Operation |
Annual Budget |
501 c 3 status |
(check one and fill in blank)
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(check one and fill in blank)
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(check one)
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a) In addition to the criteria mentioned above, what other criteria were most important in selecting sub-award recipients?_____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
During the most recent CCF grant period , in order for an organization to receive CCF supported Technical Assistance from your organization which of the following applied?
Years of Operation |
Annual Budget |
501 c 3 status |
(check one and fill in blank)
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(check one and fill in blank)
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(check one)
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In addition to the criteria mentioned above, what other criteria were most important in selecting technical assistance recipients?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
During the most recent CCF grant period, how many organizations did you serve in your CCF program in the following categories?
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Total # |
Sub-award |
Technical assistance |
Training |
Faith-based |
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Secular
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Total Orgs. |
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Had you provided assistance or services (whether or not supported by CCF grant) to any of these organizations in prior years?
No
Yes
a) If yes, how many of the organizations had you worked with previously? _______#
Approach to Training, Training/Workshops, Sub-awards
Overall Approach
Which of the following statements best/most closely describes the approach taken in operating your CCF program during the most recent CCF grant period?
Given the level of resources we have: (check only one)
Our CCF program serves as many organizations as possible.
Our CCF program provides a limited number of organizations with as much time and resources as possible.
Technical Assistance
Of the organizations that received Technical Assistance in the most recent CCF grant period, how many received the following amount of Technical Assistance (from your staff or consultants/contractors)?
# of organizations # of hours
_____ 1 – 8 hours
_____ 9 – 20 hours
_____ 21-50 hours
_____ 51-100 hours
_____ 101-200 hours
_____ More than 200 hours
(note: number of organizations should sum to total number listed as received technical assistance in Q 16)
During the most recent CCF grant period, receipt of technical assistance was: (check one)
Required of all sub-award recipients
Not required of sub-award recipients
Rank (1-5) the importance of the following in how your organization determined the topics/areas to be addressed through the provision of technical assistance for specific organizations: (In ranking from 1 – 5, 1 represents the most important factor and 5 the least important factor.)
FBCO’s stated interests |
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Outcomes of formal Organizational Assessment |
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Expertise/knowledge/judgment of intermediary staff/consultants |
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Availability of staff with relevant expertise |
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Availability of consultants with relevant expertise |
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Training
Of the organizations that received Training through Workshops in the most recent CCF grant period, how many received the following amounts of Training?
# of organizations # of hours
_____ 1 – 4 hours
_____ 5 – 10 hours
_____ 11 – 30 hours
_____ 31-50 hours
_____ More than 50 hours
(note: number of organizations should sum to total number listed as received training in Q 16)
During the most recent CCF grant period, participation in group training workshops was: (check all that apply)
Required of all sub-award recipients
Required of all Technical Assistance recipients
Not required
During the most recent CCF grant period, which approach best/most closely describes training in your CCF program? (check one)
All organizations receive training on the same core topics
Organizations choose which training workshop topics/sessions to attend from a list of various topics
During the most recent CCF grant period, did your CCF program have separate training workshops or specific sessions within workshops geared to organizations at different levels of capacity?
No
Yes
Sub-Awards
During the most recent CCF grant period, eligibility to compete for sub-awards was: (check one)
Open to any organization in the community that met the requirements
Limited to organizations already receiving Technical Assistance and/or Training
Were organizations that received sub-awards in a prior period eligible to receive another sub-award in the most recent grant period?
No
Yes
During the most recent CCF grant period, how often were sub-award recipients required to submit written reports to document their use of sub-award funds and progress in meeting objectives for use of funds?
Monthly
Quarterly
Twice a Year
Annually
As They Draw Down the Funds
Not Required
During the most recent CCF grant period, were on-site visits conducted with sub-award recipients to monitor use of sub-awards and/or assess their progress (check one)
No
Yes, site visits were made to all sub-award recipients
Yes, site visits were made to at least one-half of all sub-award recipients
Yes, site visits were made to less than one-half of all sub-award recipients
a) If yes, on-site visits to individual sub-awardees were most often conducted about:
(check one):
Once per month
Once per quarter
Once per year
Other (explain): _____________
During the most recent CCF grant period, what were the primary reasons for on-site visits (rank as 1, 2, or 3 to demonstrate highest to lowest number of visits made for this reason)
__ To assess progress being made and funds being used as intended/planned
___To provide planned on-site technical assistance
___To help organizations that were not making progress
a) If there were other common reasons for site visits, please list/explain: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
General Questions
Did your organization measure changes/improvements in organizational capacity among the FBCOs served through the CCF program?
No
Yes
If yes, how was changed assessed? (check one or explain)
formal post-service assessment conducted by staff/consultant
self-assessment instrument/questionnaire completed by FBCOs
other means (explain):________________________________________________
Did your organization regularly obtain feedback from FBCOs regarding their satisfaction with the services provided under your CCF grant?
No
Yes
If yes, please indicate how feedback was obtained: (check all that apply)
Obtained written evaluations of training/workshop sessions
Obtained written evaluation of technical assistance services provided
Obtained oral feedback/assessment of technical assistance services provided
Other (explain):________________________________________________
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In your opinion and based on your experience operating a grant under the CCF program, among the FBCOs you serve, what organizational capacity building areas need the greatest attention (check up to 3 most critical areas)
___ Financial management skills/systems ___ Fund development/Sustainability
___ Improved governance/Board of Directors ___ Use of technology
___ Attaining 501(c)(3) status ___ Leadership/Management skills
___ Volunteer management ___ Public Relations
___ Methods to assess program ___ Community partnerships
outcomes/effectiveness ___ Strategic/Long-term Planning
___ Understanding of Federal grant
policies/rules
___ Other (explain)________________________________________________________
In your opinion and based on your experience, which statement below best/most closely describes the requirements for separation of religious activities in time and place and related federal requirements applicable to faith-based organizations receiving federal funds: (check one)
They are clear/well understood by most FBOs and easily put into operation
They are understood but difficult for FBOs to operationalize and ensure compliance by all staff/workers
They are not well understood by most FBOs and require a great deal of monitoring by intermediary
In your opinion and based on your experience in providing capacity building services to FBCOs under the CCF program, rate the importance of the three activities in terms how helpful the service is to improving the organizational capacity of FBCOs
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Critical |
Important |
Optional |
Sub-awards |
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One-on-one customized technical assistance
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Workshops/seminars attended by multiple FBCOs
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Based on your experience as a recipient of a CCF grant, please rate the following
a) We found the federal grants management requirements to be reasonable and practical.
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Somewhat |
Somewhat |
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Agree |
Agree |
Disagree |
Disagree |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
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b) We found the CCF program and operational expectations and requirements to be reasonable and practical.
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Somewhat |
Somewhat |
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Agree |
Agree |
Disagree |
Disagree |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
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What lessons have you learned about operating your CCF program or recommendations that would be useful for other intermediaries?_______________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What recommendations do you have for ACF regarding the design or management of the CCF Demonstration program?_____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Please use this space to provide any additional information you would like to add about your organization and its CCF program, operations or experience.
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| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | Intermediary Survey |
| Author | Devon Klein |
| Last Modified By | USER |
| File Modified | 2006-11-02 |
| File Created | 2006-11-02 |