Data Analysis, Dissemination, and Program Sustainability Assessment
Project Time Frame: June 2025- December 2026
Proposals Due: May 30, 2025
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
For more than two decades, Southern AIDS Coalition (SAC) has worked to end HIV disparities in the southern United States. Through federal, state, and local advocacy, SAC has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to amplifying the voices and leadership of Southerners–particularly those living with and impacted by HIV.
As a Coordinating Center for the Gilead COMPASS Initiative® since 2018, SAC created the Southern AIDS Coalition Coordinating Center (SACCC), expanding its portfolio to include community grantmaking and capacity building while advocating for regional policies. As a southern-based philanthropic intermediary, it prioritizes addressing HIV stigma and discrimination. Since the inception of its intermediary grantmaking through COMPASS, SAC has awarded grants to over 100 organizations across 12 southern states. In 2024, SAC leveraged strong community ties to grant over $1.2M to 24 organizations across ten southern states, tackling HIV stigma. Additionally, SAC administered a Rapid Response grant following the November election, supporting the immediate needs of 14 organizations facing the threat of significant disruption. Alongside funding, SAC offered technical assistance, stigma reduction trainings, and other programming to improve the service delivery of healthcare professionals, government entities, and nonprofits across the South.
EVALUATION PURPOSE & ACTIVITIES
SAC seeks an evaluator or evaluation organization to lead our assessment of program effectiveness, efficiency, and impact. The ideal candidate would have experience in collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, dissemination planning, and providing evaluation technical assistance to community-based organizations. Additionally, the candidate should be able to use data in a way that tells the story of the program’s impact and a skillset that supports the dissemination of that story.
EVALUATION SCOPE & OBJECTIVES
I. ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING AND SUSTAINABILITY PLANNING
Work with SAC and other partners to examine the impact (and potential future) of program activities. This will include assessing how previously unmet needs (e.g., service deserts) were addressed, analyzing data from numerous sources to cull impact and lessons learned, and utilizing a tool to measure likelihood of a program’s replicability and/or scaling.
Additionally, the Evaluator will actively participate in the Strategic Data Utilization Hub with all the COMPASS Implementation Partners and ETR to determine how activities map to the established cross-site core indicators. These ongoing efforts will inform dissemination and leveraging strategies.
II. DISSEMINATION OF LEARNING FOR DIVERSE AUDIENCES
The sharing of information related to COMPASS-funded activities requires a layered approach. The evaluator would also work on the development of a dissemination plan structured to share research findings with a range of audiences to increase awareness, impact, and potential for further implementation. In addition to dissemination to professional audiences, through peer-reviewed journals and conference presentations, the plan must also include sharing with the community through easily accessible and relevant formats.
Additionally, efforts must also include supporting organizations in creating their dissemination plans to put them on a path to sustainability, as well as participation in the Dissemination Working Group with all COMPASS Implementation Partners. For stated activities, program packaging and replication are addressed in sustainability activities, while “dissemination” for these purposes will focus on amplification, increased awareness, and communications strategies.
III. ADDITIONAL PROGRAM EVALUATION SUPPORT AND STRATEGIES
In addition to the analysis and dissemination activities, the Evaluator will partner with SAC in a range of activities focused on grantee success, communications, and sustainability. Activities may include:
- Creating a catalog of funded programs and campaigns by SACCC: Since 2018, SACCC has funded innovative, creative, and transformative programs addressing HIV-related stigma. The richness of these “homegrown” community-informed efforts will be captured in a digital repository. This is an opportunity to share the formative work and strategies organizations utilized to create their programs in hopes of influencing similarly situated organizations to follow suit in addressing needs in their communities. It is also an opportunity to promote the expertise of these organizations to leverage new dollars to continue their work. All organizations funded in Phases I, II, and III will be considered for inclusion and invited to submit updates on their stigma reduction efforts.
- Increase and amplify the stories of COMPASS grantees, organizations, and leaders. There are hundreds of powerful stories to be told about the impactful work of COMPASS-funded programs. SAC will implement a dissemination strategy to lift the most significant impacts in addressing HIV stigma in the South, through editorial content, social media, and other media. This includes:
- Pursuing publication opportunities for SAC and grantee partners in academic journals, magazines, online platforms, and more by leveraging existing relationships and the resources of Gilead and Implementation Partners
- Presentations at meetings at conferences, both in HIV and broader audiences, as part of a dissemination strategy that prioritizes engaging new supporters and sharing on a national scale.
- Data visualization that supports visual storytelling that showcases the creativity of HIV stigma reduction campaigns of grantee partners.
SKILLS AND WORK TO BE PERFORMED
The candidate selected will be expected to:
- Review existing evaluation plans and data, and effectively organize said data
- Conduct appropriate analysis of quantitative and qualitative data
- Triangulate findings by comparing and cross-verify findings from different data sources or methods
- Use a range of tools for reporting findings, dependent upon audience and method of communication
- Provide evaluation technical assistance and guidance for community-based organizations funded through grant programs.
- Facilitate the reporting of data to SAC and ETR (or any entity identified by Gilead Sciences to be the Evaluator responsible for collecting from all COMPASS partners). This includes providing quarterly updates and supporting quarterly and end-of-year report development support as needed, and evaluation outcomes from these programs.
- Collaborate with evaluation teams from the other COMPASS coordinating centers and the overall COMPASS evaluator (ETR), including participation in monthly cross-organization Workgroup and Committee calls related to data utilization and dissemination.
- Develop evaluation tools, attend sessions, and perform data collection/analysis for programming. Produce manuscripts describing the findings of this research.
- Partner with SAC to create standardized evaluation questions and protocols that can be implemented across programs
- Partner with SAC in crafting bold and innovative dissemination strategies to drive sustainability of HIV stigma-reduction efforts in the southern US
SELECTION CRITERIA
The evaluator(s) should possess the following:
- Experience designing evaluations and a commitment to ethical research practices
- Demonstrated experience evaluating community-based programs in the southern United States. Focus on HIV, stigma-reduction, and health equity preferred.
- Expertise in qualitative and quantitative research/evaluation methods.
- Experience writing clear, concise, and actionable evaluation reports.
- Experience creating presentations and data visualizations for diverse audiences.
- Strong facilitation and interpersonal skills, including navigating sensitive topics and implementing participatory evaluation methods.
- Understanding of the social, cultural, economic, and political context of the communities involved in the programs being evaluated.
- Awareness of equity, inclusion, and power dynamics in community settings.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Proposals are due by May 30, 2025. The anticipated budget for evaluation activities in this calendar year is $50,000, with the budget for 2026 to be negotiated based on the scope of work. Collaborative proposals from two or more evaluators/entities are welcome. A proposal should include the following:
- A description of the applicant’s relevant experience.
- A proposed evaluation approach, including methods, timeline, and anticipated challenges. (and be no more than 3 pages)
- Examples of previous evaluation reports or work products (may be anonymized).
- A financial proposal.
- Contact information for three references.
Submission Instructions: Proposals must be submitted via email in PDF format to jo**@*******************on.org.
Late submissions will not be considered.