Organizational Assessments
Spur’s assessment process is designed to determine your organization's overall strengths through a life-cycle lens and to help better illuminate and clarify the goals, programs, and priorities of your organization.
How it Works
Assessment survey
Nonprofits being by completing an assessment questionnaire covering different areas of operations including strategic and annual planning, programs and services, finances, Board and executive leadership, fundraising and marketing, and best practices.
Debrief meeting
Following the completion of the assessment survey, Spur meets with executive director, board president and other members of the board or staff as appropriate to ensure Spur has a solid understanding of your work, organizational needs, and opportunities, as well as your highest priorities for funding.
Grants and donors
The understanding we gain through this assessment process is the baseline from which we can consider making impactful grants to your organization and introducing you to donors in our network whose interests align with your work. Every 3-4 years we invite nonprofits to update their responses, through an abbreviated process, so that our understanding stays current.
FAQs About the Spur Assessment Process
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Reflection: A chance to assess where your organization currently stands in relation to industry best practices.
Alignment: By completing this process together, the Board Chair and Executive Director can develop a mutual understanding of organizational needs.
Prioritization: Leadership can leverage this tool to identify key areas for growth and improvement.
Additional Support: Spur will offer resources and advisory services to assist in strengthening areas identified for improvement.
Collaboration and Understanding: Completion of the assessment is a great way to build a relationship with Spur that ensures we have a solid understanding of your work, needs, and impact.
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The assessment is a multi-stage process.
1. Best Practices Survey: The first step is for the Executive Director and Board Chair to complete the Best Practices questionnaire. To start the process email Alison and alison@spurfoundation.org. You should be able to complete the survey in one sitting in approximately 90 minutes.
2. Additional Information: As soon as Spur has reviewed your Best Practices questionnaire, we will contact you about next steps. Based on your responses, along with our current understanding of and relationship with your organization, the next steps may include: a site visit where we can observe your programs (if appropriate); a request to complete an additional financial, planning, or program survey; or a conversation to clarify our understanding of your survey answers.
3. Debrief: Once we have all the information we need to complete the assessment, we will arrange a time when you, your Board Chair, and other key staff and volunteers can join Spur staff and leadership for a debrief. The purpose of the debrief is to have an in-depth conversation about the information gathered so we have an accurate sense of your organization’s needs and opportunities and how we can support you going forward. -
To gain the level of understanding that enables us to properly introduce your work to potential donors.
To identify opportunities for collaboration.
To identify opportunities to provide any advisory services or training we offer that would benefit your organization.
To identify overarching trends and needs in the local nonprofit sector.
To inform its grantmaking.
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Before starting the process, we highly recommend reaching out to a Spur staff member.
1. To start the application go to Spur's grant portal.
2. Log in or create an account.
3. Click 'Apply' in the upper left-hand corner of your screen.
4. Scroll down until you see the Spur Assessment Survey or Updated Assessment Survey
5. Click 'Apply' in the upper right-hand corner of the opportunity.
6. If you have any questions, email Alison at alison@spurfoundation.org.
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We welcome your feedback as we continually strive to make the online grant application and reporting process as efficient as possible. To share comments, please email npservices@spurfoundation.org.