Success Story: Strengthening Grant Outcomes for a Mid-Sized Nonprofit

How evaluation planning and clear reporting helped a reentry education organization meet funder expectations and demonstrate real impact.

A mid-sized nonprofit focused on education and reentry services for formerly incarcerated individuals needed robust evaluations to satisfy grant requirements. The supporting data for program outcomes had limitations, and incomplete records risked weakening their reports to funders.

I developed the full evaluation plan from the ground up. I attended monthly meetings to provide ongoing guidance on data collection, designed and conducted multiple surveys, coded the data, ran focus groups and interviews, and compiled reports with clear feedback and recommendations for the program leads. For the second grant project, I reviewed and corrected incomplete data, drafted a summary report for the funder, and attended the final funding meeting.

The result was stronger, grant-compliant reports that clearly showed program impact. The organization could confidently demonstrate outcomes to funders and make data-informed adjustments to their services. The process also prevented common last-minute data errors that often arise when reporting is rushed.

From the non-profit’s COO:

“Clarece brings a rare combination of research expertise and practical insight. She has an incredible ability to design research that gets to the heart of what’s actually happening in a program. Her approach is both rigorous and deeply human-centered, and she helped us think more clearly about how to gather meaningful feedback from the people we serve.  She helped us design an evaluation which surfaced meaningful feedback from our participants and will strengthen our work going forward.”

Key takeaway: With the right evaluation framework and steady support, limited data can become clear, compelling evidence that strengthens grant applications and sustains important work.