Monitoring and Reporting Recreation Programs (MARP) Tool User Guide October 2013

Transcription

1 Monitoring and Reporting Recreation Programs (MARP) Tool October 2013 Supported By:

2 1 Table of Contents Overview... 1 What is Being Recorded?... 1 What is being Measured and Reported?... 1 Why were these Measurement Areas Selected?... 2 Completing the MARP Tool... 2 Editing the MARP Tool... 9 Using the Tool for Reporting... 9

3 1 1 Overview The was developed to assist the recreation field in evidencing the recreation and physical activity programming that occurs within the community. The tool also provides the recreation practitioner the opportunity to measure, assess and develop their programming practices so that they may continue to provide opportunities that meet the changing needs of their community. What is being Recorded? Program Overview Recording of basic information such as the focus and type of program, as well as the duration the program. Participant Statistics Recording participant numbers as well as the categories that these participants fall under, such as age or minority or target group. Staffing Recording of the number of both volunteer and paid staff working in the program. Support Recording of the organizations that are responsible for coordinating, funding and supporting the delivery of programs. What is being Measured and Reported? Total number of programs delivered Number of participants Category of participant Staff involved in the program The reporting section of the tool, Report Summary collates the data you enter in to the spreadsheet on a monthly basis and provides an output table that summarises your ongoing program information. The Report Summary can be used to provide supporting evidence of your work as well as allowing you to identify areas for potential development within your community programming. There is a Charts section in the tool as well which summarises the data collated in the Report Summary in to graphs and charts giving you the option to use some visual feedback when reporting on your programs too.

4 2 2 Why were these Measurement Areas Selected? Community development is about providing as many opportunities for people to take part in recreation and physical activity as possible. We can assume that part of community development should involve increasing the number of people who participate in our programs, and increasing the number and frequency that our programs are offered to our communities, as well as ensuring that our programs are accessible for all. By recording and measuring these particular statistics we can determine where we may need to offer more programming or change programming to meet the needs of our community more specifically. Ideally as an organisation or service provider we should look to increase participation rates, offer more programs more often to a wider audience within our community. It is impossible to increase opportunities within the community unless we also increase the capacity in which we can deliver programming. Staffing of programs for coordination, delivery and support is an essential part of community development and training to support these staff is an essential service that should be provided. With limited funding and resources available to pay all staff, we must focus on increasing our volunteer network so that we can meet the demand of programming. There may be a need actively recruit volunteers, offer training and support to increase programming, or limit paid staff to manage budgets allowing you to reallocate funding to a different area of programming. By recording the provision of staff, we can continue to measure how well we are meeting the capacity to deliver or develop programming in the community. We may use the information to demonstrate the amount of support received from volunteers as part of our community programming too. The other area being recorded within the tool is Support. This information allows us to keep a record of how the programs are funded or supported. Although this information is not specifically reported on in the Report Summary, it does allow us to use this information to evidence how many programs are receiving grant funding, or to promote the support from outside organizations or indeed evidence the support that your own organization is providing in the development of programming within the community. Completing the MARP Tool Name of Organization: Test City Name Insert the name of your organisation in to the box outlined above on the sheet titled Template Master E.g. Test City Name. By inserting the name of your organisation in to the template master it will automatically appear in each month as well as the report summary. For the Month of: Drop Down Boxes of Months Insert the month you are reporting on from the drop down boxes for each month. Note: Do not do this on the Template Master.

5 3 3 Total Number of Programs: 13 (this amount is calculated automatically) Every time you add a new program name to the column under Program Overview it will count as one program. This program will then be included in the count of total number of programs that you will see in the box above. This number will also be added to the report summary sheet automatically each month. Program Overview Program Name Program Focus Program Type TOTALS City Walkers Recreation Ongoing Program Name Insert the name of the program you are reporting on. E.g., City Walkers. (Note: that when you add these details to the program name column, the sheet will assume that this is one program. It will then include this program as part of the total count of programs for the month as outlined in the section above. ) Program Focus There is a drop down menu to select from a number of options outlined below. Select an option that best fits your program focus. Health and Fitness Parks and Open Space Physical Activity Recreation & Leisure Organized Sport Recreation Sport Target Groups Weight Loss Youth Engagement Education Other

6 Total length of Program (weeks) Total # of different Participants involved in program Average # participants/session Total # Sessions/week Pre-School Children 5-12 Youth Adults Seniors 50+ First Nation & Metis Other Target Group 4 Program Type There is a drop down menu to select from the options. One Time Event Ongoing Program Pilot Project Seasonal Fundraiser After-School Other For example a charity walk or fun run Consistently run throughout the year This is not regular programming, longer than a one -time event Only runs during certain months of the year Event to raise money Programming related to the After-School Time Period ( for youth) Something not listed Select the category that best describes the program you are reporting on. If there is not one that accurately reflects your program then select option other. Participant Statistics Participant Statistics Total Length of Program (weeks) Insert how many weeks the program operates for that month. Total Number of Different Participants Insert the total number of different participants that attended the program (this information can usually be obtained from registers if it is an ongoing program, or a head count if it was a one off event). This information can be collected from program leaders at the end of each month. Average Number participants/session How many people on average attend each session? Total Number Sessions/week How often does the program occur?

7 # of Paid Staff # of Volunteer Staff Lead Organization # of Training Workshops delivered for staff Main Supporter 5 Main Funder 5 Category of Participants Enter how many participants fall under each of these categories: Pre-School Children 5-12 Youth Adults Seniors 50+ First Nation and Metis Other Target Group Note: At any time you can change the category headings for each of these areas. Ensure that this is done in the Template Master and not on the month itself, this way all sheets will be updated to reflect your new category headings. Staffing Staffing Number of Paid Staff How many of the staff involved in this program are paid? Number of Volunteer Staff How many of the staff involved in this program are volunteers? Number of Training Workshops delivered to staff How many training workshops were delivered, or that staff attended? Support Lead Organization Who is the organization responsible for running or coordinating the program?

8 6 6 Supporter Who is the main supporter or partner of the program? (If applicable) Main Funder Who funds the program? Private, commercial, grant funding or pay for service. In all of the support areas you can select from a drop down menu of options from the following categories. Note: You can add categories to this section to better reflect your partners, funders and supporters. See Editing the MARP Tool section for more details. Partners Municipality Sport Culture Recreation District SPRA Community Organisation SaskSport SaskCulture Health Justice Recreation In Motion Business Government CIF Other The Report Summary The numbers that you insert in to the monthly sheets will automatically be added to the relevant month and category in the report summary. The total for all months will appear in the blue row titles Annual Participation Statistics. These total numbers also produce specific charts and graphs that can be found on the Annual Charts tab of the excel tool so that you could use these for reporting on specific program information for the year.

9 Total length of Program (weeks) Total # of different Participants involved in program Average # participants/session Total # Sessions/week Pre-School 7 Children 5-12 Youth Adults Seniors 50+ First Nation & Metis Other Target Group # of Paid Staff # of Volunteer Staff # of Training Workshops delivered for staff Total Number of Programs: 7 Report Summary Table Name of Organization City of Test Participant Statistics Staffing Programs Month Annual Participation Statistics January February March April May June July August September October November December Charts Chart 1: Training Workshops This chart identifies how many workshops have been delivered in each month for your staff. The MARP Tool allows you to report on training that staff may have attended to support programmign even if you did not deliver the training as an organisation.

10 8 8 Chart 2: Staffing The above chart demonstrates the breakdown of both volunteer and paid staff working in your programs. Chart 3: Age Group of Participants The above chart shows the number of participants in your programs by age group. This is a good breakdown of statistics allowing you to evaluate what age groups your programs accommodate or identify potential target age groups to develop more program opportunities for. This may be dependent on your community needs. Chart 4: Programs This graph shows the total number of programs delivered each month.

11 9 9 Other Charts You can essentially report on any of the information gathered across the months or contained within your report summary. The MARP tool is set up to provide output charts for the categories outlined above in particular but there are many more combinations of information you could report on to suit your needs more appropriately. Editing the MARP Tool You can edit the category headings within the tool to suit the areas you want to record. If you change the headings within the template master sheet, they will appear in the monthly sheets as well as the charts and report summary. You can also add other categories to the drop down lists which are used to select information in the Program Type, Program Focus and Staffing areas. There is a tab titled Drop Down Fields ; add any other item to each of the lists and it will appear in your drop down list. It is has been formulated to allow for a maximum of 20 options. The Tool contains formulas that will be removed if you delete rows from the template. The Tool accommodates 21 programs per month. Using the tool for Reporting By recording current participant statistics, as well as the number of programs delivered and staff supporting delivery, we can provide evidence of the impact that our service has. By reporting on our programming practices, we can begin to build a baseline of information that we can use the tool can to identify areas for more focused programming or development. It can show the progress you make within your community, as well as supporting reasons as to why you may be choosing to program certain activities, or for certain age groups. The MARP Tool can also be used to report on progress or targets being met as part of grant funding allocation or indeed used as a measurement tool that can be highlighted within a grant application, demonstrating that effective measurement of programming is a priority. The charts and graphs within the tool create good visual aids that can be included within any type of informal or formal reporting structure. The Report Summary, as well as the Charts, can be complimented by other program information that you choose to include as part of your reporting process, depending on what exactly you are required to report on. By recording and measuring community programming, you are better positioned to provide evidence for the programs and services you are providing, supporting or funding. The information can be used to assess the needs of your community and to assist you in planning and development on a regular basis. Visit to review our programming and development resources. Templates to support action planning, report writing and volunteer recruitment are some of the materials available.