Research & Evaluation Services by Jayne Cravens

• public / media relations activities,
• community media and community technology projects,
• projects to build people's capacities regarding communications,
• marketing/outreach activities and campaigns, including health communications,
• internal communications,
• volunteer involvement / community engagement schemes,
• funding proposals,
• web sites regarding use by potential and current supporters (donors, volunteers, members, etc.),
• online communities, use of online social media, and other online activities, and
• theatre/theater - related activities as a tool for development/education

• assessing UNDP/UNV's Online Volunteering service regarding its past results, unrealized goals, future plans and partnerships, to make recommendations regarding its organizational support, human resources, outreach, collaborative activities and further development. My investigation approach centered on extensive in-person, phone and online interviews with a variety of UN staff and users (both local NGOs and individuals), reviewing written communications with users, reviewing historical and qualitative data, and assessing practices at other organizations. The evaluation lead to several major improvements in the service and its management, and a strategic plan for the service that fully reflected inputs of a variety of UN staff, as well as current and potential users of the service.

• researching and documenting best practices at hundreds of organizations regarding telecommuting/cloud commuting, traditional volunteering and online service delivery, to create extensive recommendations regarding online volunteering for other organizations. My investigation, which marked the first time this issue had ever been explored in depth, included extensive in-person, phone and online interviews with staff at a variety of organizations and individual volunteers, gathering and reviewing historical and qualitative data, an extensive literature review, and assessments of practices at various organizations.

• investigating the elements needed for an organization to successfully use live, in-person performance/theater as a tool for development, excluding performer training and artistic techniques. The investigation approach centered on gathering historical and qualitative data, through a literature survey and semi-structured interviews with practitioners. More than 30 "TfD" initiatives were reviewed for this research project, from grass roots initiatives to projects initiated by major development players.

• evaluations of web sites for national and international organizations regarding the effectiveness of their web sites per volunteer recruitment, involvement advocacy. Organizations reviewed included the American Red Cross, Catholic Charities, Planned Parenthood, the Humane Society US, American Lung Association, AARP, National Kidney Foundation, and the US Army. These evaluations were done through Energize, Inc.

• "Involving International Online Volunteers: Factors for Success, Organizational Benefits, and New Views of Community. In conjunction with the Institute for Volunteering Research's November 2005 conference, "Volunteering Research: Frontiers and Horizons," this research, the first done regarding Online Volunteering in quite a while, was undertaken to assess current common practices among organizations successfully involving international online volunteers; to explore the role online volunteering may play in building a more cohesive global community; and to assess the relationship between involving online volunteers and building organizational capacities. This paper offers a brief history and overview of online volunteering practice and details survey results regarding organizations that involved the Outstanding Online Volunteers of 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 at www.onlinevolunteer.org. This paper was published in The International Journal of Volunteer Administration (IJOVA) in July 2006.

• designing and implementing the donation, funding and volunteering policies of a Fortune 500 company in support of community organizations, and advising colleagues on setting up similar programs at other companies.

• Technology-Assisted Delivery of School Based Mental Health Services: Defining School Social Work for the 21st Century, which was co-published simultaneously as the Journal of Technology in Human Services, Volume 21, Numbers 1/2 2003, by The Haworth Press, featured a paper by Jayne Cravens, Online Mentoring: Programs and Suggested Practices as of February 2001.

• evaluating and ranking submissions for the Texas Governor's Volunteer Awards, the Women in Community Service National Volunteer Awards, and the San José (California) Festival and Parade Grant Review Committee.

I specialize in a variety of services for mission-based organizations (not-for-profits/NPOs, non-governmental organizations/NGOs, civil society, grass roots organizations, and public sector agencies). Some services for for-profit companies are also available. For my Curriculum Vitae, please contact me.

Also see a list of workshops and panel discussions I have lead for various organizations, and for international, national and major regional conferences.

Check out the Jayne Blog, featuring suggestions about resources and issues relating to mission-based organizations, and notices about when the non-technical parts of this web site are updated (such as the section on volunteerism or development. The blog provides a way for readers to post comments as well.