Coffee drinkers know that a morning cup gives energy to tackle the challenges of the day ahead. But, for Equip Coffee, a social enterprise in Springfield, Missouri, the motivation for great coffee goes beyond the single cup. In addition to changing the trajectory of a person’s day, Equip Coffee is changing the trajectory of a person’s life!

 

Equip Coffee was launched by Victory Mission + Ministry in 2018. Since 1976, Victory has been walking alongside men and women who have had challenging life circumstances that include homelessness, addictions, abuse, crime, and physical or mental health. “Every life has purpose” is not just their slogan; it is a reflection of a culture longing to see change in hurting lives, including those impacted by Equip Coffee. Often mistaken as a coffee shop with a storefront, the focus is instead wholesale coffee and online sales. They employ apprentices who process and package orders of coffee, ground or whole beans, while instilling a work ethic, self-worth, and valuable skills for their next phase in life. 

 

According to Ashlyn Deffenbaugh, the manager of Equip Coffee, there have already been a few changes since its inception. However, the one thing that has never wavered is the mission to develop relationships with people while empowering them with skills that translate to the workforce. Whether their next job is as a barista, pastor, or accountant—the development, attention to detail, leadership, and communication skills each apprentice gains at Equip Coffee prepare them for that next step in life’s journey.

 

While they love offering quality craft coffee, their primary passion is for human dignity. They care about people at every step of the supply chain, from the well-paid farmers who harvest the beans to the local business that roasts them. The apprentices find a renewed sense of self-worth and also experience the reward of paying it forward, as coffee proceeds are returned back to Victory Mission.

Many are interested in what it takes to start and maintain a coffee social enterprise. Below are examples of Equip Coffee apprentice eligibility requirements, how workers are trained, specific job duties, as well as lessons they have learned along the way.

 

Apprenticeship Eligibility and Selection: 

Participants in the second or third phase of Victory Mission’s 12–18 month Restoration Program are eligible for apprenticeship with Equip Coffee. Prior to apprenticeship, an individual must complete Jobs for Life, an empowering, Bible-based curriculum that helps participants understand their unique giftings while building character, self-worth, and integrity.

Individuals are typically referred by other Victory leaders. Because a relationship is already established with the Victory Mission staff, an interview is optional.

If a Restoration Program participant already knows their career interests, Victory Mission tries to navigate them straight to that specific field. However, if they are in an exploratory phase, unsure where their interests lie, working for Equip Coffee provides an array of skills that translate into areas in which an apprentice may find interest. Equip Coffee is also ideal for candidates who already show some level of responsibility but are looking to increase their skill set. 

The apprenticeship positions not only advance an apprentice’s recovery and skill building, but allow the opportunity to give back to the mission that has been vital in their own development. The length of time worked varies per individual, but spans anywhere from 2 weeks to 4 months.

 

Training:

 

Prior to becoming a paid apprentice, individuals start in a volunteer role, shadowing an experienced apprentice. The purpose of this method is two-fold: 1) the volunteer becomes trained to become an apprentice; and 2) the apprentice becomes familiar with their own leadership style and growth areas. 

Each apprentice completes onboarding training including topics such as cleanliness, delivery etiquette, professionalism, office soft skills, and critical thinking. Once they have an overview, the apprentice completes a self-evaluation by selecting three strength areas and three growth areas from a predetermined list, such as public speaking, creativity, computer skills, marketing, dependability, and work ethic. 

As the apprentice selects areas of potential career interest, Ashlyn applies lessons from their apprenticeship directly to their future endeavors. They also develop their “big, audacious vision” for their future and set three goals for themselves, which are regularly reviewed to ensure accuracy and celebrate success.

Some come to the program with a fairly extensive skill set in need of “re-awakening” prior to entering the workforce. For those who come with little work history or skills, though, there is an in-depth dive into specific job skills required as well as soft skills. The training averages 3-4 days, but can span from one day to a few weeks if needed. 

 

Apprentice Job Duties: 

 

All apprentices at Equip Coffee learn how to receive orders, grind and package coffee, process it for delivery, clean the facilities and equipment, and complete inventory. Additional job duties are based on the level of direction needed as well as the individual’s strengths and weaknesses. As they advance, they may learn to complete billing, make phone calls, or make local deliveries alongside a Victory Mission Staff member. Some will even learn to complete the spreadsheet used for inventory management, sales records, and costs. (Download a sample of this spreadsheet: Google Sheets | Microsoft Excel)

Some apprentices participate in sales meetings, which include meeting with a coffee shop owner who wants to switch to Equip Coffee beans, a retail shop owner who wants to sell Equip’s packaged coffee, or a local church interested in supporting Victory Mission and serving ethically sourced coffee on Sunday mornings. Ashlyn takes these opportunities to model professional business attire and conduct. The meetings could include Equip Coffee informational presentations, pour-over demonstrations, or testimonies from apprentices. Stories of life change not only motivate people to support the mission but also help the apprentices hone their communication skills and gain confidence while developing relationships in the local community. 

 

Coaching:

Ashlyn explains that those interested in starting this type of ministry do not need a degree in business. An individual who has integrity, attention to detail, and a vision to do everything with excellence can be successful in building a coffee social enterprise. Ashlyn’s previous professional experience was routine and structured, but building relationships with individuals in recovery has taught her to appreciate a healthy level of spontaneity.

Ashlyn works with individuals to identify growth areas, facilitate opportunities specific to those areas, and keep them at the top of these individuals’ minds. A coach-to-apprentice ratio of 1:1 or 1:2 allows for deep conversation and development of a trusting relationship. She uses these one-on-one opportunities to communicate the importance of being “faithful in little.” Even the small, seemingly mundane tasks, like changing gloves or applying the coffee labels to the bags evenly, build character. She uses these moments to teach that bringing our best is important to God.

 

The Numbers:

Equip Coffee was granted $20,000 in start-up funds with additional space and inventory valued at $5,000. It was recommended to Equip Coffee to start operations with 1.5 full-time equivalent employees with a salary budget of $40,000 for the first year. They had anticipated a 6-12 month planning phase, but it ended up being a longer and more challenging process than expected. 

Equip Coffee’s mission is “less about revenue and more about partnerships,” but profitability has increased over time. In June 2020, gross revenue was around $1,000/month; as of March 2022, it had grown to between $4,000 and $5,000/month. Although they have recently invested more time into educating potential partners, Ashlyn sees this as an area of growth. Theirs is not a hyper-competitive growth model but their goal is to see Equip Coffee become one of the main coffee suppliers in Springfield.

 

Advice and Lessons Learned:

Understand the vision and be able to communicate it to others.

Although they knew their vision from the start, they re-branded in 2021 to better communicate it to others. They took a step back and pondered: “Who are we? Why do we exist? How do we explain that to others?” At the outset, there was confusion regarding their role in coffee; some thought they had a coffee shop or storefront, so part of the rebrand message became “We-come-to-you,” or corporate wholesaling.

Don’t take the relational approach of marketing for granted.

Initially, they relied heavily on social media. This approach was not as effective as they anticipated. They made a strategic change by reaching out to nonprofits and churches with whom they had an established relationship. Ashlyn learned that people are more likely to partner with them through a personal invitation or story of an apprentice’s life change rather than a social media post. “Human interaction is still just as essential to developing a business as it was 10 years ago.”

Emphasize transparency.

Victory Mission staff members participate in weekly “huddles” to communicate information between departments, thanks to lessons learned from the coaching organization The Great Game of Business. This has increased transparency, decreased dissonance in the organization, and helped Ashlyn to stave off confusion regarding happenings with Equip Coffee as well as enlist team members’ assistance with potential partnership leads. 

Start small and scale slowly.

Ashlyn has found that patience is vital. As tempting as it is to start fast and do everything now, she recommends starting small and making sure that the “small” is stable before scaling.

 

Ashlyn states, “A lot of what we do builds on the foundation with what already existed within Victory Mission’s Restoration Program. I see coffee as a great avenue for connections.”  Whether it’s a front porch, business office, or church foyer, coffee connects people. Ashlyn calls it a perfect avenue for life change through work and relationships.

“People are the passion; coffee is the means. It’s about life change one person at a time, and Equip Coffee intends to do it with the greatest excellence.”

 

 

 

 

In the Lincoln neighborhood of Huntsville, Alabama, the freshly painted homes, trimmed lawns, and children playing on the quiet streets serve as more than just a testament to the power of a good home renovation. They’re a testament to the power of God’s restorative work, both in the physical world and in people’s hearts.

Had you stepped into that now warm, inviting neighborhood twenty years ago, you wouldn’t have been able to recognize it. Crime-ridden and economically depressed, the feeling of hopelessness hung thick in the air. The dilapidated houses provided their weary tenants with a roof over their heads, but not much else: in fact, many of the homes were so run-down that they didn’t have electricity, running water, or working sewage.

It’s obvious that a seismic change has occurred in the last twenty years in that once severely depressed area. What happened?

The Lincoln Village team would tell you that it was God’s redemptive intervention made through His Church. That, and a whole lot of paint.

What started as one man’s determination to share the Good News of the Gospel in the shadows of this dark place grew into a holistic neighborhood transformation. This 1.5 mile radius community now offers youth educational opportunities and 30 renovated homes for the working poor. Renovation of 27 additional transitional homes will be completed by the end of 2024. 

While providing clean, affordable housing was an admirable feat, the decision to complement it with holistic services delivered through intentional relationships turned out to be a pivotal one.

“You can build as many houses as you want, but if you don’t have restoration with God and others, you’ll never experience real change,” explains Lincoln Village Executive Director Lakshmi Nallamala.

To ensure the right candidates are in the program, the application process is quite thorough. The first phase begins with housing application questions about income, work, previous residences, and the like. Residents are required to work 30 hours a week and make at least $14,000 in gross annual income.

Qualified applicants then apply for the Evolve program. “This is when a lot of people start to realize that this is more than just housing,” Field Staff Director Jess Ahrens laughs.

“There are questions about their goals, areas in which they’d like to grow, questions about their communication skills, their finances, parenting style, past traumas … you name it!”

Jess explains that the intent of this questioning is “to find people who are ready for change and looking for support to reach their goals, because that’s what Lincoln Village provides.”

To further drive home Lincoln Village’s determination to create a space defined by honesty and reciprocal relationships, the next phase of the application process involves meeting a group of several staff members, each of whom share very openly their own hurts and struggles. “90% of the time, candidates will also share their own story with the group in a very real, raw way. A lot of times, we’re all in tears by the end. We just are very intentional about creating a space where walls can come down,” Jess explains.

From here, the selected candidates are those who have demonstrated the greatest willingness to be transparent, to learn, and to grow. Of those who make it to the interview stage, roughly 80% of these applicants end up in a Lincoln Village home. Heartbreakingly, in part, due to the housing crisis in Huntsville, Lincoln is only able to house 5% of those who apply.

Anyone hoping to hide behind the four walls of their Lincoln Village home will be disappointed: Isolation is not the name of the game in Lincoln Village. Rather, from day one, each resident is encouraged to participate in the strong social support system.

This relational support is spearheaded by Lincoln Village’s Neighborhood Coordinators, staff members whose aim is to share the transforming power of the Gospel and provide holistic support to residents. Neighborhood coordinators meet with families in their homes to share life together, dream of the future, and create strategies to make that future a reality.

While the specifics of the relationship look different based on the needs of the resident, the basic structure looks like this: Each Neighborhood Coordinator is assigned to 5 families and is expected to meet with each at least twice a month, on top of regular phone call/text check-ins. For the duration of the resident’s stay in Lincoln Village (the average is three years), Neighborhood Coordinators focus primarily on helping residents set and achieve goals. Lincoln Village has no shortage of connections and opportunities available to residents to help them pursue their goals: a resident could take advantage of a matched savings account, weekly Bible studies, counseling, support groups for single moms, and educational scholarships, to name a few.

“The Neighborhood Coordinator’s job is to set the table. The resident’s job is to choose to sit down at it,” Jess shares about the wide variety of resources available.

While the Neighborhood Coordinator is tasked with helping the resident define and achieve goals, no less important is their job to bolster an area so frequently languishing: friendship. For that reason, while many meetings involve activities such as poring over budget spreadsheets or signing up for GED classes, others involve simply pouring a cup of coffee and having a chat on the couch, like two old friends catching up.

That friendship doesn’t just spring up overnight, though. “Honestly, the first year of meeting with a resident is what it takes to build trust,” Jess shares. On the task-oriented side of things, before Neighborhood Coordinators can help a resident catch the vision for what their life could look like, they have to help put out the fires that trap residents in day-to-day survival mode.

“It’s not unusual at all for residents to enter Lincoln Village with crises on multiple fronts,” Jess shares. As an example, one resident came in with an enormous car payment—just under $600 a month—complete with a 28% interest rate. The first order of business was working with this resident to help her sell her vehicle to relieve her of this burdensome drain on her finances.

Jess recounts a recent success story: One Lincoln Village resident overcame a difficult addiction and was able to work her way from near-eviction to being a resident in good standing, thanks to the accountability and friendship provided by Lincoln Village staff and other residents. At the end of what turned out to be a trying 6-month ordeal for the resident, her Neighborhood Coordinator texted her saying, “I am so proud of you!” The resident responded with the following: “Thank you for believing in me when nobody else did.” For this resident, her neighborhood coordinator’s determination to believe in her and encourage her through every trial gave her the strength to overcome the immense challenges she faced.

“You know, it really doesn’t take a lot to change someone’s life,” Jess concludes. “It takes someone willing to take the time to listen, encourage, and share the hope found only in Christ.”

That, and a whole lot of paint.

 

Watch Lincoln Village Ministry explain their charity model in their own words. 

God is on the move at Lincoln Village and its staff warmly welcomes you to see the transformation for yourself if you’re ever in Huntsville, AL! Until you’re able to make the trip, though, you’re welcome to call or email with questions you may have. You can find contact info for Lincoln Village Ministry in the Member’s Directory.

 

 

---

This article is just the tip of the iceberg for the practical resources available through the True Charity Network. Check out all of the ways the network can help you learn, connect, and influence here.

Already a member? Access your resources in the member portal.

---

 

 

 

 

“When we ran a toy giveaway program at Christmas, fathers were never the ones coming to pick up gifts for their families,” Heather Fullerton remembers. Dads felt ashamed that strangers were providing presents for their kids. “But now that we’ve started Community Christmas, dad comes to shop.”

Fairview Christian Church in Carthage, MO, runs a relational, dignified, affordable Christmas shop every year for low-income families. All items are priced at about 10% of their original value, and everything in the store sells for less than $4. This way, parents are able to pay for their gifts independently, and children experience the love and joy of receiving gifts from their own parents. 

What really makes the program special for shoppers and volunteers alike, though, is the focus on relationships. Each shopper family, from the time they fill out an application to well into the next calendar year, is paired with a volunteer family, or “partner.” Partners, who participate in a group study of When Helping Hurts as a part of their training, aim to foster real relationships with the shopper families so that they can meet deeper needs over time or welcome them into the church community.

Partners start off by visiting their shopper families’ homes to introduce themselves and explain how the Christmas shop works— they’ll sign up for a time slot on the Saturday the shop is open, they can pick out up to 3 gifts per child, there will be space for children to spend time and make a gift for their parents, etc. Then, on the day of Community Christmas, partners welcome the families and walk with them through the entire experience, from shopping and wrapping to talking in the hospitality area and carrying gifts to the car. 

After Christmas, Fairview Christian Church provides partners with resources for reaching out to their families throughout the year. Partners will send postcards for church events and cards for each of the children’s birthdays. In this way, the church presents a structured way for partners to keep the door of relationship open with their shopper families. Over the years, these relationships have given partners and other church members the opportunity to help with specific material needs, as well as pray for their neighbors in a more personal way. 

Heather loves how people from Fairview with varied skills and passions can each contribute to the program. Her husband happily carries gifts out to cars, a teenager heads up the kids’ craft section, administrators help sort and inventory items, and the entire congregation rallies to buy toys each year. Community Christmas has served as a way to build relationships both inside and outside church walls. 

Fairview Christian Church has joined the recent movement of many churches and organizations in making the switch from traditional toy giveaways to affordable Christmas markets. Each shop is unique, with its own take on advertising, pricing, and community building. True Charity Network Members can check out our Christmas Market Model Action Plan to learn about variations of this program and to see step-by-step instructions for creating a shop that meets your community’s needs. 

What advice does Heather have for people on the fence about making the change this year? “Just do it!” she encourages, reminding us that a Christmas shop isn’t just about paying for gifts, making new friendships, or making fathers feel more respected. It’s about affirming the human dignity inherent in every individual. “These people are too valuable to wait another year.”

 

---

This article is just the tip of the iceberg for the practical resources available through the True Charity Network. Check out all of the ways the network can help you learn, connect, and influence here.

Already a member? Access your resources in the member portal.

---

 

 

 

“What can we do so you don’t need us anymore?” This is the question Missy Hanks asks anyone who applies to the Expecting Little Miracles (ELM) scholarship program.

The ELM foundation in Huntsville, Alabama, exists “to make intentional investments that create self-sufficiency, accountability, and a desire to serve.” Missy Hanks, the case manager for ELM, explains that they award grants for skills development, whether that be a traditional college degree or specialized job training. The Little Miracles program also assists with childcare, legal, or healthcare barriers that present themselves on the participant’s path to self-sufficiency. Missy works closely with each program participant, serving as an advisor, friend, and listening ear to individuals who may be undergoing significant stress in order to work, continue their education, and in some cases, provide for their children.

ELM focuses heavily on long-term development work rather than meeting immediate needs. They don’t advertise the program widely but instead rely on referrals from clergy, community leaders, or social service staff who have noticed a particular client progressing. Missy explains that those who end up qualifying for the program tend to be in the top 1-2% of a typical poverty-alleviation program demographic. “You not only have to find someone who can be successful, but someone who wants to be successful.”

Referred individuals who qualify for FAFSA fill out an application, write an essay about their history and goals, and interview with Missy. Their applications must then go through the grants committee as well as the board of directors before being accepted.

Before the school year begins, participants work with Missy to clarify their own goals and write a development plan. A typical student development plan features requirements for class attendance, GPA retention, and working 15 hours a week. For a working parent who wants to complete more education, a development plan might include increasing one’s salary, earning a CNA, or even eating dinner as a family four nights a week. Both Missy and the participant sign the document, and it becomes a kind of a contract for their commitment to each other and the program.

The participant then meets with Missy according to their needs. Some students, for example, might call her often with questions about which classes to take and how to set up a checking account. Others, especially ones nearing the end of their education, might only check in once before the end of the semester. Missy spends extra time with those mothers who both work and go to school and meets with them for lunch monthly. ELM even enlists volunteers to write birthday and Christmas cards to each participant. They try to make the program as relational as possible.

Grants are awarded by semester, and ELM helps participants all the way through their schooling, as long as they stay committed to their development plan. A typical student grant is $7,500, while a typical childcare grant is $6,000. Each individual has different needs, and ELM works with them to alleviate some financial burden while still asking for substantial contribution from the participant.

ELM’s intentional application process and intense case management results in their participants overcoming significant odds and transforming their lives.

The ultimate goal for ELM is encouraging self-sufficiency. Missy explains, “That means paying their bills on time, not relying on government assistance, and then turning around to assist others. That’s what success looks like for us.”

Missy tells the story of one woman who joined ELM when she and her son were thrown out on the street by her abusive husband. With the help of Little Miracles, she graduated from college with an RN degree and now works as a dialysis nurse. Her son, who was nine years old when they became homeless, grew up with the love and support of the ELM staff. He eventually received a full scholarship to Amherst College and went on to study medicine. Missy explained that their formal relationship with that family lasted eight years, but they continue to call just to check in to this day.

For those who are interested in beginning their own scholarship programs, Missy encourages leaders to make an intentional investment in just a few candidates. “To truly do development work and not just meet immediate needs, it’s expensive.”

By investing both financially and relationally in a handful of individuals, a program can make a real difference in their lives. And, by encouraging those individuals to turn around and serve, one little miracle for an individual could impact generations.

 

The ELM Foundation is a member of the True Charity Network. For more information about their program, Network Members can contact them through the directory in the member portal.

 

Check out several testimonies from those whose lives have been impacted by the ELM Foundation’s Little Miracles program:

 

 

 

In 2006, Jay and Julie St. Clair helped transform a ramshackle apartment complex known on the street as “The Last Resort” into an urban transitional housing program they christened “God’s Resort.” From the original few units, God’s Resort has expanded to now offer nearly 40 housing units for people who need both affordable housing and an intentional supportive community to assist them out of addiction, poverty, or trauma. God’s Resort is not a rehab facility; rather, it’s a next step for people who find themselves stuck. Some are recent graduates of other programs. Others don’t come from a program but just need a supportive community to help them meet their personal goals.

Residents pay rent at around 60-70% of market rates and agree to meet with Life Transition Coordinators twice a month (who function like case managers), participate in some weekly community events (choosing from multiple options), and stay verifiably drug and alcohol free. Residents typically stay for around two years before they are ready to move on to fully independent housing.

 

THE RATIONALE

While many nonprofits would be content to leave the program description with what they are trying to accomplish, the team at God’s Resort was dissatisfied with that. They wanted to know that their programs really work. Do people really leave in a better condition than when they came? A couple of years ago, the team at God’s Resort would not have been able to answer that question—now they can. 

In 2019, Jay St. Clair, in part inspired by James Whitford of the True Charity Initiative, realized that they needed to start measuring outcomes in their program. By outcomes, we mean the long-term objectives in the lives of your clients, not merely the quantity of services your organization provides. Jay said they decided to make the switch to measuring outcomes because he knew it would help them serve their people better and so he could give his donors more confidence than mere anecdotal evidence could provide.

 

THE IMPACT

 

According to the assistant executive director, Beau Hamlin, once they began measuring outcomes, they were quickly excited by the demonstrable success their program already had. They started by measuring indicators of long-term wins for their clients such as number of trusted friends, amount of times they volunteer, number of Christian fellowship events attended, weeks of unbroken employment, credit score, debt, months of sobriety, and a personal stability assessment quiz (more detail is available in the attachments). 

They found that the residents, on net, were appreciative of the evaluations. The assessments lead to natural goal setting conversations. Because the program is generally full of people who have expressed an interest in improving their own situation, most clients will see positive change over time. For many of them, this is the first time in years that the trajectory of their life has been positive, and seeing the improving numbers gives them the confidence to believe the progress is real. Beau says, “Beside every number we try to collect is a corresponding question we ask our residents. Each question reveals a piece of someone’s life.” Consequently, asking these questions can be very personal and must be done in a sensitive way. The God’s Resort team stresses to clients that the numbers, such as months of sobriety, weeks of unbroken employment, or credit scores, are not the core identity of the clients, they are merely tools to help gage progress and relative strengths and areas for improvement.

The new outcomes measurement processes made it easier to fairly identify residents who were stuck in ruts and provide Transition Coordinators with the solid evidence needed to help overcome those residents’ denial. This created the basis to get them to either progress or to free up the housing for the long waiting list of people more interested in personal growth.  

The data collection not only has an impact on the clients but on the programs. The staff at God’s Resort is able to look for areas in which clients are struggling across the board and identify ways to offer the targeted services they need.

Donors also noticed the shift to measuring results. In 2020, God’s Resort gave a second presentation of this program data to community members to show change over time, including personal testimonials to personify the numbers. In response, one potential donor said, “We’ve always been interested in your program, but your commitment to measuring your impact now gives us the confidence to start investing in your ministry.”

 

THE PROCESS

 

Filling out the stability assessments is an active process. The staff has learned that the best practice is to talk the clients through the questions rather than just let clients fill them out alone.

God’s Resort staff meet with clients monthly and try to keep track of key metrics as the topics arise. Beyond this, they do a deliberate quarterly assessment of all the metrics for each client, except the more in-depth personal stability assessment, which is conducted every six months.  

The person who meets with residents to assist in goal setting and progress tracking, as mentioned previously, is referred to as a “Life Transition Coordinator.” The meaning behind the title is that the coordinator isn’t there to solve all of the residents’ problems for them, but rather to connect them to the resources they need.

The data these assessments generate are stored in a secure cloud-based software.  God’s Resort ensures that their clients give informed consent on the purpose and usage of the sensitive information. (They use Tresorit.com, which offers a 50% nonprofit discount on secure cloud storage.) The data are used on an ongoing basis to assist individual clients with their own progress. They also compile key metrics from all of the clients into spreadsheets for trend analysis and donor reporting.

 

THE COST

 

Beau remarked that the time required to collect and sort data was significantly less straining than one might imagine. That’s because they have found that the most intensive part of the process, sitting with clients and working through assessments with them, is actually quite therapeutic—the outcomes measurement process became a way to set and achieve personal goals more deliberately and, thus, contributed to their existing transition goals. Other than that, they aggregate the data for internal assessment and donor reporting every few months in metrics that do not identify individual residents.

 

THE LESSONS LEARNED

 

Beau cautions that you must ensure the metrics and assessments you use don’t delve deeper into the personal lives of the clients than you are able to safely go. Assessments designed for professional counselors are often outside of the scope of work of a typical nonprofit. Even for in-house tools, sometimes a question on an assessment could trigger someone to open up about deep childhood trauma. Most likely, your team won’t be equipped to do in-house trauma counseling and will need to either refer those clients to outside sources or structure assessments in a way to only bring up issues that you are reasonably equipped to address.

Beau also acknowledges that the need to find people who are good at working through structured assessments with clients has informed their hiring practices. The role of a counselor is different than the role of a coordinator. Titles, but more specifically job descriptions, help direct hiring processes, as well as inform the staff on how to spend their time. For example, a coordinator intentionally facilitates the achievement of goals while navigating some personal struggles, as opposed to primarily performing non-clinical counseling sessions. This structure helps keep the conversations more productive by ensuring coordinators engage clients in topics relevant to the client’s personal growth. Now, they spend more time talking about budgeting and volunteerism and less time talking about arenas outside of the client’s control. When serious issues arise, they leverage professionally trained outside assistance.

Beau also opines with a quote that one of their board members shared with him: “Data is refined through use.” In other words, their measurement has become both more accurate and useful as they have continually put it to the test. If you’re not measuring outcomes in your organization, yet, Beau says the best advice is to start. “Don’t be afraid to jump in—but bring someone along who is familiar with data collection, systematizing, and utilization.” If your organization is a member of the True Charity Network, we are happy to work with you through our outcomes training and coaching, as we have done with God’s Resort.

God’s Resort is also a Certified True Charity because of their commitment to voluntary funding, challenging programs, and measurable results. Their example shows that measuring program outcomes is not only feasible but can also have a profound impact on your clients, programs, and supporters. For more tools like the ones below, True Charity Network members can go to the members portal.

• God’s Resort Resident Self-Assessment (DOC)
• God’s Resort Resident Self-Assessment (PDF)
• Outcomes Card – Front (JPG)
• Outcomes Card – Back (JPG)
• Resident Outcomes Reporting Sheet (XLSX)
• Sample Transitional Housing Outcomes Tracker (XLSX)