Позитивные изменения, Том 3 №1, 2023. Positive changes. Volume 3, Issue 1 (2023)

2. Since 2020, feedback has been collected annually from applicants and members of the competition committee. The data collection method is a blanket survey. An online questionnaire is used. In 2021, 66 % of the applicants and 81 % of the members of the competition committee participated in the survey. Here are some insights from the 2021 report on the feedback from the applicants and experts of the competition:

• “For the convenience of applicants and experts in 2020, reference materials were developed: a manual for the experts and a manual for the applicants. Almost all applicants and experts, with the exception of 7 % and 5 %, respectively, took advantage of the manual. All of them noted that the reference material was helpful when working with the competition site.”

• “60 % of the applicants received advice from the Foundation specialists by phone or email while preparing their applications. Communication with specialists was highly appreciated by the applicants and experts of the competition. Commenting on their evaluation, experts and applicants noted that consultations were received promptly, and the specialists were able to answer all questions of interest. Applicants who did not seek counseling say they were able to complete the application on their own, thanks to detailed instructions in the applicant’s manual. The experts thanked the entire competition team for their quick feedback, attentive and friendly attitude.”

3. Beginning in 2019, the professional community (evaluators, specialists of grantmaking organizations, and attendees of the evaluation conferences conducted by the Association of Program and Policy Evaluators) are involved in the discussions of competitive procedures.

FEATURES OF THE GRANT COMPETITION

1. The Road Home Charitable Foundation regularly conducts sociological and evaluation research on relevant issues. Research results are published on the organization’s official website and discussed in professional circles[56]. This ensures that potential applicants do not have to conduct a pre-project evaluation on their own, or go out looking for a problem or a vulnerable social group. The applicants can freely obtain this data from the research results.3

Information about the competition is collected from at least three data sources, to enable independent validation of the results and examine the evidence of social outcome from different perspectives.

2. Support to implementation of winning projects. Throughout the implementation period, the grantees are provided various kinds of support: information support (promotion, raising awareness, boosting the media coverage of the project); volunteer assistance; and methodological assistance.

3. Introducing an evidence-based approach at the application stage[57].

4. The competition has been extended to Cherepovets. Cherepovets is a medium-sized industrial city in Russia, which for several decades had the status of a single-industry city, with the city-forming enterprise of Severstal. The Foundation was the first to hold a grant competition in the city. The grantees also gained access to training, specialized methodological materials, expert support, a professional community, and the development and testing of new technologies for working with children and families. One of the conditions for implementing projects is inter-departmental collaboration, partnership with specialists from the social sphere, healthcare, education, law enforcement, higher education, local authorities, businesses, and media. As a result, the city developed a pool of experts and partners who specializing on working with troubled children, know how to use the latest technologies of social work, share the Foundation’s values, apply project-based approach and implement monitoring and evaluation tools in their work. Due to Cherepovets being a relatively small city with limited human resources, this pool of specialists and partners took part in the Foundation’s activities in different roles.

Prior to 2019, verifying the relevance of the problems stated in the project applications, initiating and implementing the Foundation’s projects, evaluating applications and project results could all be done by the same person. The introduction of the evaluation results made it possible to build an objective and transparent project selection procedure, retaining the most engaged and interested professionals. So today, each group of specialists involved in the competition has its own role. We introduced two new groups of specialists: independent experts and representatives of the main donor.

Starting in 2019: