Reports and Studies

Many community-based organizations engage in mobilizing those they serve, training residents to step into leadership roles, and supporting collective action to improve community conditions because they believe these activities make a difference. They believe they make a difference to the quality of life, the effectiveness of their organization's efforts, and the sustainability of both. The Community Organizing Pilot Program (COPP) was established to gather the evidence. Through a rigorous planning and documentation process, eighteen NeighborWorks organizations across the country established a disciplined process to track their community organizing efforts. During 2001-2002, participating organizations were supported by Neighborhood Reinvestment staff and technical consultants to develop common planning and reporting tools and processes. During 2003, they began to report on the outcomes of their community organizing work. This report represents this first year of reporting, and the culmination of a successful pilot process which led up to it.

How does community organizing strengthen the bottom line? We were able to document that participating organizations mobilized thousands of community residents to become more involved in their organizations and communities; leveraged dozens of partnerships, thousands of volunteer hours, and millions of dollars in new community investments; improved safety and physical amenities in their neighborhoods; and resulted in increased responsiveness to community needs on the part of a wide array of public and private institutions, from youth services to public transportation.

We then reviewed data on a larger group of NeighborWorks organizations that maintain organizing staff and engage in community organizing, representing approximately 25% of all NeighborWorks affiliates. Our data showed that this group of fifty organizations (including the 18 COPP participants) had significantly lower delinquency rates on their Revolving Loan Funds (8.2% median compared to 14.4% for NWO's that do not have a community organizing component). They also delivered 34% more housing services (median per organization) and successfully secured, on average, 11% more funding for their organizational activities than their non-organizing peers.

We believe that this data begins to deliver compelling evidence that community organizing strengthens the bottom line. We look forward to continuing our data gathering and analysis efforts, disseminating "winning strategies," and encouraging organizations to think in terms of this double bottom line. The payoffs are many. Complete info »

How do you reach the people at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure -- before it's too late? Too many homeowners don't reach out for help soon enough. Whether due to fear, embarrassment, or lack of knowledge about the alternatives, delay can make the difference between renegotiating a mortgage on workable terms, or losing a home.

The following case studies, focusing on outreach to niche communities, provide organizations with new tools and strategies. Each case study describes a real organization addressing the real challenges of reaching various constituencies they serve. Each includes a summary of lessons learned and who to contact for more information. Complete info »

In 2008, Community Housing Partners (CHP), with funding and research support from NeighborWorks America, engaged in a study to better understand the financial impact of resident services on property performance in service-enriched affordable family rental housing. Examining data from FY 2006 and 2007, this study finds that operational costs relating to vacancy loss, bad debt and legal expenses were significantly lower at properties with resident services than at those without resident services. In addition to these findings, the report offers opportunities for future replication, development of best practices and recommendations for next steps. Complete info »

Credit is increasingly a financial fact of life in modern society. It is also a topic that has been included in a variety of financial literacy programs that partner with the National Insurance Task Force (NITF). The purpose of this report is to capture the experience of NITF and to provide information and resources aimed at fostering additional understanding of this issue. This report is the first formal response of NITF regarding insurance scoring.

As the use of credit has become more widespread, the NITF incorporated this topic into its educational outreach to insurers, community development practitioners and most especially, to consumers.

NITF recognizes that credit is increasingly a factor in insurance rating and underwriting. It is not the goal of this report to take a position regarding this issue. Instead, it is to help guide insurers and community leaders on how to better educate residents on the role of credit in insurance and how it can potentially affect them. This report will demonstrate how credit, when effectively managed, can help consumers have better access to insurance coverage at an affordable rate.

Through this report, we hope to lay a positive foundation of knowledge to build vital win-win partnerships that create and sustain strong communities and businesses and ultimately protect and preserve a homeowners greatest asset -- their home. Complete info »

Credit unions and NeighborWorks organizations are natural partners. Both are not-for-profit, are governed by volunteer boards of directors and offer financial products and services to defined populations. Credit unions and NeighborWorks organizations have already begun to develop strategic alliances to serve the underserved.

The case studies documented in this paper are a testament to the fact that credit union partnerships with NeighborWorks organizations are a proven model for building healthy communities. Communities benefit from access to affordable financial products and services; moreover, credit unions and NeighborWorks organizations benefit from leveraging the human, physical, structural and financial assets that each has to offer. Complete info »

A Publication of NeighborWorks America and the NeighborWorks Community Building and Organizing Initiative. The NeighborWorks Community Organizing Pilot Program (COPP) was created by organizations within the NeighborWorks network to:

- Place organizing in a central position as a strategy for community development and neighborhood revitalization;

- Report to the broader community development field the significant value-added quality of community organizing to communities; and

- Systematize ways of reporting improvements beyond housing development and investment that are important to the life of the communities in which community development organizations operate.

The Community Organizing Pilot Program was both a program with specific objectives, and also an applied research project that explored the effects of organizing activities on the work of selected NeighborWorks organizations.

This report presents the work and accomplishments of COPP both as a program, and also as a project in applied research. Complete info »

This study aims to describe outcome measurement and to explore to whom outcomes matter, how outcomes are measured, and the costs and benefits of undertaking outcome measurement at the level of a community development organization (CDO). Several funders in community development began requiring outcome reporting in 2005. Outcome measurement is a way to produce important evidence about long-term outcomes in a manner that may be useful both for funders and CDOs. Its process includes articulating an organization's longterm goals, identifying indicators to evaluate progress toward those goals, implementing a system to track the indicators, analyzing the findings, and reporting results to stakeholders. Outcome measurement is distinguished from performance measurement, which focuses on immediate outputs or short-term outcomes. Also, outcome measurement does not aim to meet the standards of academic research.

This study found consensus among funders and CDOs that the benefits of outcome measurement are well worth its costs. Implementing outcome measurement provides the most value to CDOs if the process allows sufficient flexibility and if CDOs are committed to the effort required. Primary benefits for CDOs consist of enhanced strategic planning and management, better positioning with respect to competition for funding, and better communication and community relations. The study recommends that funders and intermediaries increase transparency about their objectives to CDOs in order to mitigate confusion and mistrust. Funders are also cautioned against valuing outcome information ahead of other considerations. The study further recommends collaboration among outcome measurement experts and funders to create consensus around terminology and reporting requirements. Complete info »

The purpose of this handbook is to provide community development organizations (CDOs) with basic information useful for the following:

- Developing organizational continuity of operations plans.

- Proactively assisting their communities with preparedness.

- Pre-planning for recovery and actual disaster recovery.

More detailed information on these topics can be obtained from Web sites referenced at the end of this document.

Typically after disasters, the vast majority (80%) of the affected population is able to manage its own recovery. The remaining 20% will need special assistance that CDOs and nonprofit organizations are uniquely positioned to provide. The kinds of assistance victims need varies greatly based on the type of disaster or crisis that has occurred and on each individual household's particular circumstances.

CDOs have aided their communities' recovery from disaster with counseling services such as foreclosure prevention, help with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Small Business Association (FEMA and SBA) process, disaster recovery case management, rehabilitation services, recovery fundraising, volunteer management, new construction management, assistance in development of economic recovery, temporary housing to disaster victims, funding for day care, providing meeting spaces for recovery planning, communication with clientele, mental health services and so on. CDOs have also worked with local government to create a recovery that is sustainable and creates a better community than prior to the disaster. CDOs have responded to the needs of their existing clientele as well as disaster victims who were not in need of the CDOs' services previously.

In order for CDOs to be positioned to provide assistance they must still be operational after the storm has passed. The first section of this handbook is a workbook designed to assist CDOs with step-by-step development of an organizational business continuity plan (BCP).

The second portion of this handbook lists steps that organizations can take to work with emergency management leaders in their communities to encourage individual households and communities to be better prepared for natural and man-made disasters.

The third and fourth sections of this handbook address issues associated with recovery. There is a guide to pre-planning for recovery, a guide to developing a disaster recovery notebook and best practices, and considerations and opportunities for housing, economic and community recovery are suggested.

A resources section is included to provide additional information on preparedness for and recovery from disasters. Complete info »

Highlights of 17 grant applications for a special $5 million, mixed-income demonstration program that explored approaches for serving households with incomes less than 30 percent of the area median ("extremely low income" or "ELI" households) in mixed-income communities. Also included are working conclusions from experience to date with the mixed-income demonstration program. Complete info »

Creating homeownership is a central strategy of community developers, but the success that they have realized is threatened by a recent rise in the rate of mortgage foreclosures. Innovations in the mortgage industry, particularly automated underwriting, risk-based pricing and stratified securitization, have helped foster the development of mortgage products that are flexible and affordable, expanding homeownership opportunities to many households with poorer credit ratings and fewer savings for down payment. But these riskier "subprime" loans, often made with larger up-front fees and higher interest rates, are foreclosed upon at a much higher rate than are prime loans. Subprime lending has also been concentrated in low-income and high-minority areas, often the very places community developers are trying to revitalize.

Community-based development organizations across the country have responded to the increase in foreclosures by providing counseling and loans and by working with local lenders to minimize the number of delinquent mortgages that go into foreclosure. Foreclosure-prevention programs are resource-intensive, however, and community organizations in locations with high foreclosure rates can be quickly overwhelmed by requests for assistance. Nevertheless, many affiliates of the NeighborWorks network have created successful programs. These programs have staff with a wide variety of experience, as they must negotiate with the lender and servicer staff, and also provide counseling and support to the homeowner. Counseling may be needed to cover a variety of topics, including financial education, household budgeting, job skills or family problems, and often requires partnering with other organizations. A number of the foreclosure-prevention programs also provide, or have access to, loans and grants to help homeowners restructure their debt and become current on their mortgages. Complete info »