3 Program Implementer Interview

PROGRAM IMPLEMENTER INTERVIEW PROTOCOL

Hello! Thank you for meeting with me today. My name is XX, and I’m with ICF, a research and evaluation organization working with AmeriCorps to understand the impacts of its Volunteer Generation Fund (VGF) grant program. Today, we will be asking about ways in which this funding has been used by [state commission name and/or program implementer organization name] to engage in [VGF-funded activity, e.g., capacity building services] to support community-based entities to recruit, manage, and support volunteers. Your response will help AmeriCorps to improve its VGF grant program.

This discussion is voluntary. You can decline to answer any questions. You can stop participating at any time. The information you share will remain private during and after the project. Neither your name nor any personal information about you will be shared beyond the ICF research team. We will maintain discussion data in secure areas. I would like to record the discussion to document information accurately. Only the ICF research team will have access to the recording. If you choose not to be recorded, I will take notes instead. I will not include your name in the notes.

(Confirm permission to record the session and, if confirmed, begin the recording.)

Before we begin, I want to check with you again that it is okay to record today’s discussion.

1. Let’s begin with some background information. Please tell me a little bit about your role at [program implementer] and your role as it relates to the Volunteer Generation Fund grant activity, [main activity of program implementer].

   1. Who are the other staff, if any, that are involved in the VGF-funded capacity building activities and what are their roles?

2. How do you select volunteer organizations to participate in the volunteer management training/capacity building?

   1. How competitive, if at all, is the process to be able to participate?

   2. What type of model do you use for training one or more organizations? (e.g., cohort model)

   3. How many volunteer organizations have you trained as part of this VGF grant to date since October 2020?

   4. How many more volunteer organizations do you plan to train by September 2023 as part of this VGF grant?

3. Please describe the organizations that participate in the training and any requirements these organizations must meet. (For example, types of organizations may include volunteer connector organizations, government entities, volunteer organizations, non-profits, community-based organizations, or corporations.)

4. Please describe the capacity building or training that you provide these organizations.

   1. What curriculum or program do you use?

   2. Who or what organization developed the curriculum/training?

      1. Did your organization develop the curriculum/training?

      2. If so, did your organization work with any others to develop the curriculum/training? Was the curriculum/training a part of the current VGF grant?

   3. How many capacity building practices do you typically cover in the training?

      1. How many practices or strategies do you generally cover in each training session?

   4. What materials do you provide to training participants?

   5. How many sessions/trainings does each organization participate in?

      1. What are requirements related to training?

         1. How many sessions or hours are participants required to attend, if there are any requirements?

         2. How many staff from each organization are required to attend, if there are any requirements?

   6. What other expectations do you have for the training participants (e.g., do they have to outline a plan for implementing capacity building practices)?

   7. What certifications, if any, do participants or organizations receive?

      1. What are the requirements for certification?

5. What partners, if any, do you work with to provide training or capacity building?

   1. What is the role of your partners?

   2. Does your program use the train-the-trainer model?

      1. If yes, please describe.

6. Since October 2020, what are the greatest needs of the organizations with regard to capacity building?

   1. To what extent do volunteer organizations need help with recruitment strategies (e.g., finding more volunteers, finding skill-based volunteers, etc.)?

   2. To what extent do volunteer organizations need help with volunteer engagement or retention strategies?

7. How, if at all, have you incorporated COVID-19-specific volunteer management training or capacity building into the training you provide organizations?

8. How, if at all, have you incorporated diversity and inclusion into your volunteer management training or capacity building?

9. Since October 2020, what data, if any, do you collect from the volunteer organizations prior to their participation in the program? (Examples of data collected may include information about organizations’ needs or what they are hoping to learn from the training.)

   1. How do you collect this data?

10. Since October 2020, what data, if any, do you collect from the volunteer organizations after they participate in the training?

    1. How do you collect feedback regarding participant experiences with the program?

       1. What have they liked about the training?

       2. What suggestions do they have for improvement?

    2. Do you collect data on the extent to which they implement volunteer management practices?

       1. What strategies do organizations report successfully implementing?

       2. What strategies do organizations find challenging?

    3. What data do you collect from volunteer organizations as it relates to their recruitment and/or retention? (Examples of data collected may include tracking the number of volunteers before participating in training and then tracking volunteer numbers over time.)

11. How did your organization become involved in this grant? Has your organization worked with the state commission before? If so, for how long and in what area?

12. Since October 2020, how often do you communicate with the state commission regarding your progress?

    1. To what extent do you share your successes, challenges, and lessons learned with the state commission, if at all?

13. Since October 2020, what data or reports do you provide to the state commission as it relates to capacity building outputs and outcomes?

    1. How often do you provide the state commission with data?

14. What other data from training participants/organizations do you collect, if any?

15. How do you work with a third party or an internal evaluator to evaluate your program, if at all?

    1. Please describe your evaluation design and activities.

16. What do you see as the biggest success of your program to date since October 2020?

17. What are the biggest challenges of your program to date since October 2020?

    1. What are some lessons learned?

18. What are some of the successes related to program beneficiaries implementing volunteer management strategies learned through the training/capacity building?

19. What are some of the challenges related to program beneficiaries implementing volunteer management strategies learned through the training/capacity building?

    1. What are some lessons learned?

20. What challenges, if any, have program beneficiaries encountered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic?

21. (If a program is responsible for creating/expanding a network): What is your role in building a volunteer network with the state? How does your organization participate in the state’s volunteer network?

22. (If a state has a volunteer portal or platform): How does your organization utilize the volunteer platform or portal?

23. In what ways, if any, has the [program implementer’s activities] improved volunteer organizations’ capacity to utilize volunteers?

24. What additional feedback or insights, if any, would you like to share with us regarding the VGF program?