May 29, 2013 - 5:27pm
In the world of evaluation and research you are constantly making connections and collaborations with people from a multitude of backgrounds and locations. The challenge to find the stakeholder you are looking for, establish trust, and engage them to respond can be daunting. At the Improve Group we have established some practices that help 
May 29, 2013 - 5:26pm
The American Marketing Association defines market research as the process of using information to link the public to marketers. Investopedia says market research allows companies to better understand their target market and how they will respond to a product or service. Market research is traditionally seen as being used in the business sector.
April 25, 2013 - 1:09pm
Skills to Select the Right RFP
March 20, 2013 - 3:44pm
Sometimes your ideas aren’t linear. They involve complex relationships, dependencies, etc.
March 20, 2013 - 3:37pm
The Improve Group is always looking for creative ways to measure and evaluate program outcomes and their long-term impacts. Ripple effect mapping brings something new to the table by framing analysis around the initial program outcomes and how they connect to and interact with the larger service area, community, etc. It is a participatory strategy for measuring program outcomes, particularly those requiring collaboration among stakeholders or sectors.
February 20, 2013 - 6:53pm
Over the last year, we have had a chance to work with two foundations in the Twin Cities: a family and a community-based foundation. We learned a few lessons from this work about evaluation within a philanthropic context:
January 30, 2013 - 9:14pm
Without a clear understanding of evaluation results, organizations are unable to use findings to learn and strengthen their work. That means that the reports and presentations we develop are a tremendously important aspect of our work at the Improve Group. Reporting is often the culmination of months, and sometimes years, of inquiry and hard work.