These days, it’s not hard to find information online. Run a Google search – no matter how obscure – and you can instantly gain access to websites, magazines, newspapers and blogs dedicated to your topic. The difficulty then lies in sifting through the search results for quality content that’s current and relevant to your needs.
Whatever you’re into, whether it’s 
sports, celebrities or the latest in impact measurement and evaluation, Twitter is the place to go for the up-to-date news and information. But sometimes sifting through the endless sea of “tweeters” in search of those posting truly thoughtful and innovative content can be overwhelming.
We hate to see it go, but summer is quickly drawing to a close. While many people are busy wrapping up summer vacation plans and preparing for fall, we’re busy wrapping up another phase in a special pilot project here at Demonstrating Value: the Farmers’ Market Impact Toolkit.
Expressing value in numerical terms is a direct and concise way to describe value. Quantitative figures can compliment your description of the value of your enterprise, and are especially useful when communicating with investors or other stakeholders who like to know the facts.
There’s a flurry of activity going on at Demonstrating Value, so we thought it time to bring back the basics and reconnect with the nuts and bolts of Demonstrating Value – the Demonstrating Value Workbook.
Making the Most of Demonstrating Value
“Don’t start with a tool and ask ‘what can I use it for?’. Ask: ‘what do I want to accomplish?’, then match the right tool and strategy.” Chronicle of Philanthropy @philanthropy (Twitter, April 24)
Fresh, organic produce, locally-grown herbs, farm-fresh culinary delights…what does all of this have to do with Demonstrating Value? A lot, in fact!
Following up from her webinar “You Say Impacts, I Say Outcomes”, Kylie Hutchinson (Community Solutions Planning and Evaluation) shared an Evaluation Terminology Mind-Map in a recent Community Solutions newsletter.
Demonstrating Value is crossing borders, with a recent feature on both techsoup.org and techsoupcanada.ca that includes excerpts from the Demonstrating Value Workbook.
Client Relationship Management (CRM) systems are a mix of policies, processes and strategies used by organizations to manage contacts and track their interactions with their stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, volunteers, employees, funders, donors, clients and others. Keeping these contacts organized can be difficult (especially as organizations grow in size), so many seek to develop more formal systems for tracking this information using CRMs. Yet selecting and effectively using CRMs can be a challenge, especially for organizations with limited resources.
