Completing a Comprehensive Needs Assessment and Developing a
Profile Plan
Elements of a Needs Assessment:
►Collection and analysis of data
►Survey information
►Focus or discussion groups
►A public policy review
► A review of current programs, activities and resources
Benefits of a Needs Assessment:
- A needs assessment makes the project defensible, fundable and measurable
- A needs assessment targets resources
- A needs assessment can reenergize existing efforts
- A needs assessment can help garner media attention
- A needs assessment is an opportunity to take a fresh look at the problem and
determine
whether old programs can be scrapped and new ones begun or whether programs are
working well and should be replicated. - A needs assessment is a good strategy for involving various members of a coalition
or
organization in important activities
Purpose of a Community Needs Assessment:
►It creates baseline data for the community (gives you a starting point)
►It is a tool to help you tailor commitments to meet the specific needs in your community
►It allows you to quantify the needs gap of children and young people and to
set a quantifiable
goal to close that gap Completing a needs assessment takes time. Collecting data and researching
attitudes behind the numbers through focus or discuss groups can be a lengthy
process. When
busy people hear your group will be spending six months to a year researching
the issue of
underage drinking, many of them may head for the door. In order to overcome the
unwillingness
to conduct a needs assessment you can:
►Introduce the process as an action-based plan instead of a research-based activity.
►Set a date to complete the process and announce your needs assessment findings
at a
media event.
►Stress how the information from the needs assessment is critical for the coalition
or
organization to obtain external funding.
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