How can we easily measure whether an organization has the characteristics of a Community in Mission?
The mission of Street Psalms is directed at freeing leaders to love and serve in the shape of a Community in Mission (CiM). Because Street Psalms is most interested in partnering with and promoting the development of CiMs, they needed an easy, reliable, and valid way to measure the degree to which a given organization or group possesses the characteristics of a CiM. Beyond Data developed survey items and piloted these items with a few partners to refine them. The final deliverable was a 12 question survey that the Street Psalms Design Studio team can easily fill out each time they work on a project.
How does our leadership development program change participants overtime?
Catalyst Experience is a nine-month experiential learning lab designed for current and emerging leaders in the non-profit, business, and church communities who share a passion for the well-being and prosperity of residents living in the Grand Rapids, MI region. This year-long evaluation aimed to understand the impact of the Catalyst Experience program and examine the effectiveness of the various program components. Beyond Data collected this information to serve at least two main purposes for program leadership: (1) to use the feedback to fine-tune the experience for future participants, and (2) to communicate the value of the program to potential participants and supporters.
How do we describe the landscape of the Synod in preparation for a Bishop election?
The Southwestern Washington Synod is one of 65 synods that comprise the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). In June of 2025, voting members of the Synod Assembly will elect a new bishop to a six-year term of leadership; in advance of that election, Synod staff wanted to develop a Ministry Site Profile to inform potential candidates about the position itself as well as its broader context. Before connecting with Beyond Data, ELCA Synod Staff conducted multiple listening sessions and 1:1 interviews with key leaders involving over 200 people in total. Beyond Data analyzed the body of qualitative and quantitative evidence, drawing out themes and identifying key findings.
How can a place-based community development model transform an urban context?
Over the last decade, the community of Earlsfield, London has worked together to transform the social, spiritual, and environmental landscape of their suburb. This project aimed to understand the underlying mechanisms and key components that have made this type of community transformation successful so that, if desired, leaders from other communities might be able to replicate this model. We conducted 25 extensive interviews with key persons connected to Earlsfield’s place-based initiatives with an eye towards drawing out the main processes, values, design features, and contextual variables that contribute to this ecosystem. The final report helped local leaders see their own processes more clearly, offered a compelling example of community transformation that might inspire other leaders, and identified key components other leaders might foster in their own communities.
What kinds of program interventions help congregations thrive?
Through the Thriving Congregations Initiative, Lilly Endowment aims to help congregations thrive by strengthening ministries that help people deepen their relationships with God, enhance their connections with each other, and contribute to the flourishing of their communities and the world. Beyond Data works with three grant recipients to evaluate the effectiveness of their interventions. We have worked closely with each team to design feasible but comprehensive research projects. Each year, we analyze all collected evidence, synthesize the results, and provide a report.
How can we describe the highly varied work of our dispersed community?
As a Community in Mission, one that is dispersed worldwide in the form of a “sodal order,” the mission of Street Psalms is carried out in large measure by members of its Ordained Community. Although the staff of Street Psalms knows the individual Ordained Members, the size and varied nature of the group has made it difficult to describe its combined impact or its specific needs. Through a series of hour-long interviews with nearly all Ordained members, Beyond Data came away with a rich sense of the type of work and posture/ style shared by members of this community. By tagging key variables in the interviews, Beyond Data was able to provide both a summary and detailed views of the work which can assist the organization in guiding future initiatives.
What is the “secret sauce” of our organization, and can it be replicated?
Mile High Ministries provides long-term transitional housing to individuals experiencing homelessness and have creates a true sense of community where residents flourish. Although Mile High Ministries could describe the key values of their organizational culture, they asked Beyond Data to help them understand why and how those values were cultivated, communicated, and sustained. The final report was able to narrow in on specific organizational practices, leadership qualities, and creatively held tensions that were not apparent at the beginning of the research. Together with their staff and Board, Mile High leadership was able to extrapolate these learnings and begin discerning how to implement them at a new facility.
Let’s dig in. How are students learning new skills during a year-long internship program?
The Next Move connects high school students with community partners for a semester-long internship. These students learn professional skills and gain experience in a potential career field. We conducted a year-long study with surveys at three point to understand the kinds of skills students acquire so they could improve their program outcomes and communicate with funders.
Does our church internship program equip new pastors?
The Well provides people who feel called to church ministry with an alternative training path. Rather than pursue seminary, they place interns within the local church and help them develop the skills to lead a bi-vocational life of service. We helped them develop a plan to measure the program's impacts on the intern, congregation, community, and diocese.
Do our nonprofit’s values support leader development?
Street Psalms has 25 years of experience showing that leaders are freer when they lean into abundance, practice, and peacemaking. We worked with them to demonstrate this objectively. What does it mean to be a free leader? And why does it matter?
How are students learning new skills during a year-long internship program?
The Next Move connects high school students with community partners for a semester-long internship. These students learn professional skills and gain experience in a potential career field. We worked with them to understand the kinds of skills students acquire so they could improve their program outcomes and communicate with funders.
How do we communicate the potential benefits of our program to secure funding?
Writing a compelling grant proposal requires one to demonstrate the need for the funding and the impact it will have. Working with a nonprofit afterschool enrichment program, we used community and school-based data to show why, how, and who would be served by the program and helped design the indices to gauge its impact over the next 5 years.