True Roots assesses social responsibility projects for businesses, nonprofits, and individuals, proposing strategies and tools for planning, risk management, and impact measurement. One such organization is Rotary, a nonprofit bringing together 1.2 million business and community leaders dedicated to promoting peace and humanitarian service worldwide.
Like any social responsibility initiative, Rotary club projects require strong planning, management, and monitoring and evaluation components in order to ensure positive project impact. As such, the Rotary Club Centenario in Torreón, México reached out to True Roots for assistance with a community assessment and monitoring and evaluation of their various social projects.
Of primary concern: a family garden and food security project the club has supported for the past six years, growing from 20 participants to over 500. Rotary Club Centenario wanted to continue expanding the initiative, while encouraging participants to take a more active role in planning, managing, and measuring the impact of the project.
True Roots consultants visited Torreón to carry out a community assessment of the Rotary Club Centenario and its projects, identifying strengths and areas for improvement. Over the course of three days, True Roots met and surveyed project participants in order to better understand the challenges they face and their vision for the project.
True Roots developed a comprehensive work plan with Rotary Club Centenario to direct stakeholders’ motivation. Activities include:
- Assisting Rotary Club Centenario members in preparing a three-year strategic plan for club projects, defining action items, actors and their involvement, and expected outcomes.
- Engaging club members, family garden project participants, and agricultural extension officers in 116 hours of training on developing and implementing efficient and effective projects. Specific topics include: strategic planning, participatory leadership, assertive communication, team building, participatory development tools and strategies, and financial literacy.
- Building a monitoring and evaluation “tool kit” and guiding stakeholders in measuring, analyzing, and sharing the impact of the project.
- Creating an innovative work model for the Rotary Club Centenario, which can be adapted and applied within other Rotary clubs in Mexico and beyond.
Overall, the goal of this collaboration between True Roots and Rotary Club Centenario is to ensure stakeholders have the necessary tools and training to plan, implement, and measure the impact of this and future projects—to foment self-management capacities and resiliency. This work model has the potential to be adapted and applied to other Rotary clubs, thus presenting the opportunity to draw attention to Rotary’s global impact.