Program Design & Evaluation
Operations Assistance for COVID-19 Relief Direct Service Project
Partner
FaithActs for Education
Goals
Provide data strategy and tactical assistance for community-based nonprofit's family and church coronavirus relief program
Results
Helped partner organization distribute over $115,000 in grocery store gift cards and roughly $58,000 in grants to churches
![Image of Brittany Coleman](https://schoolstatefinance.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Brittany-Coleman-Headshot.jpg?width=252&height=252&name=Brittany-Coleman-Headshot.jpg)
Brittany Coleman
Director of Operations & Program, FaithActs
"When the pandemic hit, our first step was to call 1,400 of our people to check on them and understand their needs. Our second step was to call the School + State Finance Project. We knew we'd need rock-solid data to implement an entirely new coronavirus response program. The quick action and support of the School + State Finance Project staff helped turn our plan into a reality and provide essential relief to hundreds of families."
During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic downturn, FaithActs for Education, a “grassroots community organizing nonprofit based in Bridgeport, Connecticut,” planned to provide emergency financial relief to local families and ministries experiencing economic insecurity and instability as a result of the public health crisis.
In need of assistance to execute their plan, FaithActs reached out to the School and State Finance Project for our technical, operational, and programmatic expertise.
From design to evaluation, our organization provided urgent strategic and tactical assistance to FaithActs to help make its COVID-19 relief program run as smoothly and effectively as possible, given the immediate nature of the crisis. This assistance included identifying data points necessary for the operation of the relief program, for the reporting of program outcomes to stakeholders, and for future financial audits.
Additionally, our team used its knowledge and expertise to migrate organizational data from an existing CRM to an operational phone banking database, created a cash flow model to project program funding requirements, and drafted an initial logic model to identify individuals in need of financial assistance that the relief program may help.
As a result of this program assistance and partnership, FaithActs distributed $116,050 in grocery store gift cards to 742 families, and provided nearly $58,000 in grants to 58 area churches.
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