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Title of Research or Resource:

Success Measures Guidebook version 1.0

Author: Development Leadership Network

Publisher: Development Leadership Network

Date of Publication or Availability: December 1999

Description:

The Success Measures Project (SMP) is a practitioner-led initiative to develop grassroots outcome indicators for community development. Launched in 1997 by the Development Leadership Network (DLN), a national network of community development leaders, the project grew out of discussions among DLN members about the need for better documentation of the impact of their work than simple counts of housing units produced or dollars leveraged. Practitioners worried that resource availability, rather than community needs, was driving programs, and they feared that outside funders would impose standards, unless they created their own.

In 1998 and 1999, hundreds of community development practitioners participated in working groups that identified the major benefits of housing, economic development, and community building initiatives and proposed indicators for measuring them. These became the basis for the Success Measures Guidebook, published in December 1999 and now on-line as well, at www.developmentleadership.net. The Guidebook contains 44 indicators and a step-by-step guide for engaging community members to use them for participatory planning and evaluation.

To obtain a copy:

Download a *.html version of the materials here

For more information:

Development Leadership Network
685 Centre St.
Boston, MA 02130
617-971-9443
fax 617-971-0778
info@developmentleadership.net

McAuley Institute
8300 Colesville Road, Suite 310
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301-588-8110
fax 301-588-8154