After 25 years leading community research, outcome evaluations, and collaborative data projects, I’ve launched River City Research, a Spokane-based consulting firm that helps nonprofits, public agencies, and funders understand their data, build credible evidence, and make better-informed decisions.
Good work deserves good evidence
Programs can make a real difference and still struggle to show their results. Sometimes the challenge is measuring outcomes. Sometimes it’s collecting the right data consistently and efficiently. And sometimes, organizations need an experienced outside perspective to help them tell their impact story.
Evaluating a single program can be challenging. When several organizations are working toward a shared goal, getting a useful picture of their collective progress is even harder.
These aren’t just technical problems. An effective evaluation strategy shapes what organizations learn, the decisions they make, and how they communicate results to funders and the communities they serve.
River City Research brings research, evaluation, and practical data solutions together. My goal is to help organizations build credible evidence, put their data to work, and develop approaches they can keep using long after a project or funding stream ends.
Work already underway
I’m already partnering with three organizations on projects that put this approach into practice:
- Spark Central: Evaluating Inland Story Lab, a three-year creative youth development program. The work combines program quality observations, youth surveys, and reviews of student creative work over time.
- Northeast Community Center (The ZONE): Tracking outcomes for its Economic Mobility Program, which helps Northeast Spokane families build financial stability.
- ZEV Co-op: Designing an automated data pipeline and live dashboard to track electric car-share fleet use and support regular reporting to funders.
Each project is different, but all three connect evidence to practical questions: What’s working? What can we learn? And how can better information support the decisions ahead?
How River City Research can help
River City Research works across three connected areas:
- Research & Evaluation: Outcome evaluation, needs assessment, and survey design to understand results and find opportunities to improve.
- Data & Evidence: Data integration, dashboards, and trusted data intermediary services that help organizations make sense of information, including data shared across partners.
- Technology: Practical tools, workflow automation, and secure cloud solutions that make research and data work more useful and sustainable.
The common thread is helping organizations move from having information to using it with confidence.
Let’s start a conversation
Over the coming months, I’ll share more about what I’m learning through this work, especially around shared measurement, cross-organization data, and building evidence that lasts beyond a single grant.
If your organization is working to understand its results, make better use of its data, or help multiple partners build a shared picture of progress, I’d be glad to hear what you’re working on.
