About Success Measures

Since 2004, Success Measures has operated as a social enterprise within NeighborWorks America, a Congressionally chartered national nonprofit intermediary serving the housing and community development field. Success Measures has gained national recognition through its work with over 1,000 local and national organizations, funders and intermediary partners in all 50 states and Puerto Rico who are working to improve the places, systems, conditions and supports needed to create healthy and equitable communities.

Success Measures provides evaluation planning and strategic learning consulting services to support organizations and philanthropy who want to understand how their programs and investments help individuals make and benefit from change in their communities. Infused with a commitment and drive toward increased racial and health equity, our work covers all aspects of community development including housing, neighborhood revitalization, community engagement, health outcomes, financial security, resident leadership and arts and culture.

The highly collaborative Success Measures team of professionals brings a unique combination of evaluation and sector expertise, with the ability and interest to respond to emerging issues and priorities in the field while continuously expanding our knowledge and skills. We consider ourselves to be learning partners alongside our consultants and clients, working together on projects at the forefront of the field.

Our services and products include:

• Technical assistance and consulting to support the full cycle of evaluation (planning, implementation, analysis, and communication) and build evaluation capacity of individuals and organizations.
• Structuring and supporting learning communities at both the community and institutional levels.
• Thought partnership and advisory services for evaluation, learning and grantmaking strategies.
• Development of new data collection tools or support selecting or tailoring from our library of hundreds of measurement tools and question sets.
• Technology support through our proprietary Success Measures Data System to manage the evaluation process and collected data.

Our Values and Approach

Success Measures work is rooted in the principles and practices of participatory evaluation. To all of our work, we bring a longstanding commitment to intentional, equitable practices that help residents, nonprofits, and foundations understand and strengthen their impact through collaborative evaluation and learning processes that are inclusive, practical, and purposeful. Key elements of our approach include:

• Centering participant experience. We value the insights, experiences, and ideas of the people closest to the issues.
• Matching methods to each project. We ensure that the evaluation design fits the needs and scale of the project.
• Co-designing the process. We engage individuals in project planning to build trust and ensure that the design and goals reflect community priorities.
• Finding measures that relate to all stakeholders. We develop measures that incorporate the perspectives and needs of as many stakeholders as possible.
• Communicating clearly and strategically. We ensure that content is meaningful to key audiences and invites feedback and questions.