Slingshot Memphis is a poverty-fighting center of influence that's igniting a movement to revolutionize the way we fight poverty. To turn our mission into reality, we work with poverty-fighting organizations to study their effectiveness, identify opportunities to enhance their outcomes, and invest directly to amplify high-impact programs and services. We seek to empower decision-makers by providing previously unavailable insights that can help produce more effective outcomes for our neighbors experiencing poverty.
Slingshot conducts an Impact Study to determine the poverty-fighting effectiveness of an organization. Over a 4-5 month timeframe, evidence is gathered from the organization, external research is conducted, impact profiles are created to capture the evidence and insights, accurate impact results are identified, opportunities for greater impact are prioritized, and deliverables are produced. The first Impact Study conducted provides a baseline, which is then updated annually to capture changes over time and measure trajectory.
The Impact Study Expansion process enables Slingshot to increase the number of poverty-fighting organizations we work with. The expansion process consists of three phases. Phase I focuses on getting to know your organization, including how you help alleviate poverty, and why you are interested in participating in Slingshot's Impact Study.
Phase II focuses on better understanding your programs and your organization's capacity to participate in the Impact Study. Phase III focuses on getting to know your team members and organization in more detail, and includes a site visit. The expansion process will conclude by the end of November 2023. Impact Studies with new organizations will commence in Q1 of 2024.
Below are the minimum criteria for an organization to ensure it is a good fit with our methodology:
+ A meaningful proportion of participants are experiencing poverty or at risk of experiencing poverty.
+ Programming helps improve the health, income, or quality of life for participants
+ Programming is geographically focused on Memphis and Shelby County, TN (national or statewide organizations need to have an affiliate office within Shelby County)
+ Have at least one complete fiscal year of financial and program data, including for the most recently completed fiscal year
+ Have a board of directors, in the case of a nonprofit organization, or be under fiscal control of an organization with a board of directors
+ Have staff capacity to participate in a 4-5 month baseline impact study that includes 10-15 meetings and several data requests
Please note: The most effective time to begin impact studies tends to be soon after the conclusion of an organization’s fiscal or program year. Due to this, preference for our Fall 2023 expansion is given to organizations with fiscal years beginning October through March. Preference for our Spring 2024 expansion is given to organizations with fiscal years beginning April through September.
