Highlighting Your Woksape Oyate Achievements Writing reports that demonstrate outcomes and impact on institutional capacity Nancy M. Lucero, Ph.D., LCSW

Effective Reports u Reveal how: project activities and outputs lead directly to outcomes outcomes create the desired change or impact u Help the funder follow the course of the project over time

Essentials for Effective Reports u Analysis and interpretation of project activities and outputs based upon a strong understanding of intended outcomes u Providing key facts and a reflection on their meaning

Essentials for Effective Reports u Stating the effects and effectiveness of project activities—how activities impacted or changed a program or the participants u Writing that has depth, detail, and is specific

Outcome and Impact Focused Language Think about the different effects these two reports of the same activity would have on a reader:

Outcome and Impact Focused Language u 50 students received Choctaw language instruction. or u 87% of the 50 students participating in the Choctaw language classes increased their scores on the grammar exam by at least 35 points (out of a possible 100).

Outcome and Impact Focused Language u Include numbers and other descriptive information whenever possible 17 men and 13 women 12 faculty members representing 5 academic departments Billy Amos, tribal elder who is recognized by the community a traditional Choctaw chanter and storyteller

Outcome and Impact Focused Language u Include a statement of how all activities and outputs support an intended outcome. For example...

Outcome and Impact Focused Language u “Thirty-seven students ages participated in a 2-week language immersion experience led by Mary Martin, a community elder. The language immersion experience assisted students to _______________ (express outcome) by _________________ (how it was done).”

Outcome and Impact Focused Language u Be as specific as possible when describing activities and outputs u Use descriptive adjectives and several sentences rather than a brief general statement. For example...

Outcome and Impact Focused Language Writing that is general: “TCU faculty members attended an in-service on incorporating cultural knowledge.”

Outcome and Impact Focused Language Writing that is descriptive and specific: “Twenty-four TCU faculty members representing seven academic departments took part in an 8-hour in-service training. In the training, strategies for integrating cultural knowledge into the existing curricula were presented. Following this, participants engaged in a hands-on activity where they identified specific cultural content that they would tie into the existing content of their next class session.”

Writing Tips BEFORE YOU BEGIN TO WRITE: u On an on-going basis, collect and record information in the areas you’ll cover in the report u Review the purpose and audience

Writing Tips BEFORE YOU BEGIN TO WRITE: u Gather together and organize the documents and other information you’ll need to refer to u Review the report format, instructions, and due date create a checklist to make sure you include all the information that is asked for

Writing Tips WHILE YOU’RE WRITING: u Strive to answer the basic questions: Who, what, when, where, why, how, how much, how many u Provide details to support your statements. u Remember to demonstrate Achievement of intended outcomes Impact that resulted from those outcomes

Writing Tips WHILE YOU’RE WRITING: u Check for consistency from beginning to end u Use clear and common language Explain any acronyms or terms and concepts that are unique u Have another person read your report to identify gaps and needed revisions

Writing Tips WHEN FINALIZING THE REPORT: u Have another person read your report to identify gaps and needed revisions u Read your report out loud to catch awkward sentences or sections that don’t flow well u Proofread, then proofread again, then have another person proofread

Writing Tips DEALING WITH WRITER’S BLOCK: u Remember—your first attempt at the report is just a draft. Ugly first drafts are to be expected. u Effective reports have several drafts behind them before they are submitted. u Ugly first drafts lead to beautiful final reports that will tell the powerful story of your Woksape Oyate project.