Dear Phase 1 Grant Partners,
Thank you for your patience as the Grant Administration Team has worked to finalize Performance Reporting for the Opportunity Now Grant Program. Please know that your feedback, including the interviews you participated in with the Grant Administration Team, have been instrumental in understanding the diverse experiences, capacities, and needs of partners in meeting reporting obligations for this program.
Our performance reporting approach is intended to achieve three objectives, including:
- Gathering grant partner data to demonstrate program-level effectiveness
- Capturing performance insights to support continuous improvement of grant partners and the wider community
- Providing information to the Colorado legislature and State to evaluate the impact of the Opportunity Now initiative overall
In achieving these, the Grant Administration Team has been focused on designing an approach that balances time required from grant partners with outputs required to meet these goals.
The finalized Performance Reporting structure addresses these objectives, and reflects the feedback we received. It is intended to be flexible enough to account for unique partner strategies but standardized enough to understand and report on the impacts of the Opportunity Now Grant Program statewide.
This memo provides an overview of the Performance Reporting structure, updates we made to reduce the reporting burden, and a list of resources to support deeper understanding. We will also host a Performance Reporting Webinar on December 7th to provide an overview of the requirements and next steps.
Performance Reporting Structure
Scale and Seed grant partners will participate in Performance Reporting that includes a combination of:
- Quarterly Pulse Checks in Submittable to gauge grant progress towards the goals identified in statements of work; and
- Annual Participant Data submission in a secure platform, REDCap.
Lead grant partners are responsible for the submission of these reports.
Reduced Frequency of Participant Data Submission
In an effort to reduce the burden for grant partners, participant data will be collected annually in July. Pulse Checks will be conducted in the remaining quarters (October, January, and April). This reduces the quarterly obligation to report participant level data, which will provide more time for technical assistance and support in meeting these obligations.
Reduced Frequency of Follow Up Outcomes
Understanding participant outcomes one year, or four quarters, after they complete your program is an important part of the Opportunity Now Key Performance Indicator framework. This includes employment outcomes, such as wages, retention, and advancement, as well as subsequent education enrollment after completion. The frequency of follow up has been reduced to one year after completion, as opposed to two quarters, four quarters, and eight quarters after completion.
Given the wide variety of data collection and data management strategies that exist among grant partners, the Grant Administration Team encourages partners to capture follow up outcome data in alignment with existing practices. Additionally, WestEd will provide resources, such as technical assistance sessions and sample follow up forms, for partners who don’t have an existing strategy for capturing follow up outcome data. Finally, the Grant Administration team will continue to explore additional methods, such as participant wage matching with LINC.
Supporting Resources
- Grant Partner Resource: Performance Reporting Guide (November 2023) –This guide includes financial reporting and will replace the former Financial Reporting Guide.
- Click here to register now for the Performance Reporting Webinar on December 7, 2023.
We encourage you to continue to share your feedback with the Grant Administration Team throughout this process, as your voice is critical to developing a grant partner-informed Performance Reporting structure. Please direct questions and feedback on this matter to [email protected].
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Opportunity Now Grant Administration Team