We Start With Your Mission
We start with your mission. Then we help you get clear on where your community’s needs meet your organizational capacity and skills. Program design is a creative, iterative process. We use a variety of processes tailored to your organization. These may include asset mapping, needs assessments, logic models, target population identification, goal setting, evaluation planning, testing, and more.
We also start with outcomes, not activities. By clarifying what change a program is meant to create, we can best decide what to do, and make sure it fits what the community needs.
Contact us today for a free initial consultation.
Talk about your program
What Our Program Design Consulting Covers
We help organizations with a variety of services. Pick the pieces you need or run the whole thing.
Needs assessment
Finding out what your community needs rather than assuming. Starting here ensures programs are meaningful.
Asset and partnership mapping
Understanding what already exists inside your organization and community.
Budget and staffing
What a program costs, in dollars and in staff time. And planning for the skills and resources you need to implement.
Logic models
Inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes on one page, in the format funders ask for and in language your staff recognize.
Goal setting and evaluation planning
By defining success and how to measure it, you can ensure the program leads to the change you hope to see.
Testing and iteration
Good program design is iterative. Run a small version, see what works, change as you go. By testing you can ensure new programs operate effectively in the real world.
Our Program Development Process
Iterative rather than linear, so expect to go back a step when something you learn changes the shape of the thing.
- 01Start with the mission
Not a formality. By starting with the mission we make sure programs are in line with the organization’s focus.
- 02Map needs against capacity
By understanding community needs and organizational capacity and skills, we can design programs that are feasible and achieve the desired impact.
- 03Design the model
We get clear on the target population, outcomes, activities, and the logic connecting them to the change you want. This is where the logic model gets built. It becomes a roadmap for how you implement and evaluate the program.
- 04Plan the evaluation
Deciding what you will measure first helps determine whether the program is meeting its goals.
- 05Test, then change
Run a pilot, watch it, and then tweak or cut what is not working. We’ve found many organizations design complicated programs that soon become difficult to manage. By piloting, you can fix issues before they become huge.
Two Youth Organizations Merged. Two Programs Had To Become One
Two long-standing youth development organizations merged. Their programs had similar goals and target populations but operated differently. A needs assessment revealed gaps in both models.
We spoke with youth, parents, teachers, and staff to understand what they needed from the program. We created a staff-centered program committee to help get clear on program goals. Together, we took the best elements of both models and simplified and synthesized them.
Parents and teachers praise the new model. Staff culture improved as everyone was working on the same team. Best of all, the new program helped ensure that young people were getting the support they need.
Working With A Program Development Consultant
Bringing in a program design consultant is not an admission that something is broken. Most of our program development work is with organizations whose programs are good, but who want them to be clearer, more focused, or easier to fund.
An outsider brings the ability to look at things with fresh eyes and a focus on the big picture outcomes. That, plus the tools to help: asset mapping, needs assessments, logic models, and evaluation that staff can maintain and learn from.
An experienced consultant can move a team from vague ideas to a workable program design faster than staff juggling it alongside their regular workload. Staff leave the process with a program they helped build and are confident explaining to funders, partners, and their own board.
Start a conversation
What Our Clients Say
Kerri has been instrumental in helping me lead my non-profit organization from board leadership to fundraising to program design. Kerri is knowledgeable, reliable, and creative and I’d highly recommend Kerri to anyone looking to hire a consultant. In addition to all the coaching and support she has provided me, she is a highly effective grant writer. She took us from $5,000 to over $180,000 annually. She is also happy to teach and help my staff learn about grant writing.
Kerri’s professional, high-level support has allowed me to dedicate time, energy, and resources to creating a strong foundation for DAVA. From fine-tuning fundraising and events planning to board training, we have used this time to strengthen our internal systems and build the overall capacity of our organization. The improvements I have seen in our org leadership in just one year are impressive.
Program Development, Answered
What is the difference between program development and program design?
In practice people use them interchangeably. However, design is the model itself. Development is everything around getting it running: the capacity, the funding, the evaluation, the staffing.
We have an idea but no program yet. Is it too early?
No, that is the best moment to do this work. Building a needs assessment and a logic model before launch costs a fraction of redesigning a program that has been running for years. And even better, you can ensure your program is effective from the start.
Can you help us prove our program works?
We can help you plan an evaluation and design the program so the data you need is a by-product of delivering it rather than a separate chore. But we are not external evaluators. If you need a formal independent evaluation, we’ll refer you on to some of our favorite partners.
Will this help us get funded?
It can help. You may need to clearly explain how and why your program works. Funders may ask about target population, activities, outcomes, and measures.
Do you work with organizations outside the nonprofit sector?
We have worked with city and county government departments as well as nonprofits.
Explore Our Other Services
Grant Writing
Prospect research, writing, coaching, and submission. Showcase your good work and increase your budget.
Learn more →Strategic Planning
Realistic, adaptive plans you’ll actually use. Learn, grow, and have fun doing it!
Learn more →Facilitation & Training
Retreats, community meetings, and training on nonprofit management topics.
Learn more →Meet the Team
The grant writers, facilitators, and strategists behind the work.
Learn more →