Позитивные изменения. Том 1, №1 (2021). Positive changes. Volume 1, Issue 1 (2021)

During the year, the charity recipients were trained in online and offline formats to make quilted New Year's toys and how to sell them. There were three levels of training to choose from: basic, intermediate and advanced ones.

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

The goal of the project is to provide full time or part-time employment to the target audience by opening a permanent platform for additional earnings — the Russian Toy Manufacture.

To achieve this goal, the following objectives were set:

• Creation and equipping of the production hall, educational center, museum and press center of the Manufacture;

• Development of a training program with the creation of online training platforms for the target audience, which will not be able to attend in-person events;

• Formation of the project target groups on territoriality principle in partnership with the government authorities of the Moscow region, friendly NGOs;

• Launch of an educational center with a continuous learning process;

• Media coverage of activities about the project;

• Opening of the Project Museum;

• Publication of a special project day book;

• Assessment of the project social impact for the possibility of replicating the practice.

MAIN QUANTITATIVE OUTPUTS OF THE PROJECT

At the end of the project, the organizers provided the following quantitative outputs: during the year of the project implementation, more than 350 master classes were held, where more than 1,000 women participants were trained, 420 charity recipients under the project will be able to engage in mastered crafts at home, 550 received additional employment, 30 participants got a full time job at the Manufactory, the Quilted Toy Museum was opened.

EXPERIENCE IN ASSESSING OUTCOMES OF AN IMPACT INVESTMENT PROJECT

In September 2021, the Gladway Foundation for the Development of Media Projects and Social Programs conducted a sociological study among the graduates of the project (N = 155). The analysis of the data obtained is an attempt to assess outcomes of the impact investment project.

Table 1. Logical project model

Where do you live now?

Figure 1. Distribution of answers regarding place of residence, %

Evaluate your financial status at the moment

Figure 2. Distribution of answers regarding financial status, %

Table 2. A list of goods purchased for the last 3 years

Table 3. The degree of respondents’ consent with judgments about participation in the project

Have you worked somewhere when you started participate in the project?

Figure 3. Distribution of answers regarding of employment at the start of participation in the project, %

Could you save some amounts after monthly mandatory payments (utilities, mortgages, loans, etc.)?

Figure 4. Distribution of answers regarding savings in the family, %

Table 4. A list of things done that was completed when implementing the project

The purpose of the study was to investigate how the project affected its graduates’ lives. The study was divided into three blocks: the compilation of a socio-demographic profile of the project graduate, the determination of the psychological and economic status of the families of the participants at the start of the project, the assessment of the social impact on the charity recipients’ lives by fixing changes in the psychological atmosphere and economic situation.

PROFILE OF THE PROJECT CHARITY RECIPIENTS

As noted above, the project target audience includes unemployed women over 50 years old, mothers of disabled children, mothers of many children. The survey showed that the average age of the participants is 47.7 years, most of them are married, official and unofficial (65 %), and live in their own apartment or private house (64.5 %).

To what extent do you think participation in the project impacted the family economic status as a whole?