Every community program has impacts, but they can be difficult to identify and substantiate—especially when program implementation is multifaceted and evolving. These effects usually play out over the course of months or years, and by the time a real evaluation makes sense, it’s hard to connect new knowledge, changed behaviors and the host of direct and indirect impacts that your program may have fostered. Ripple Effects Mapping blends appreciative inquiry and mind mapping to measure a broad range of program impacts, even years after initial activities have taken place.

REM gets to the in-depth stories and impacts that help you understand your program’s true effects, fine-tune for the future, and show funders and partners how their impact has rippled out through the community.

In this action-packed, three-session online course, you will:

• Learn about Ripple Effects Mapping from its creators
• Observe an online REM session to understand the flow and core techniques.
• Discover the benefits of using REM and when it is an appropriate tool for program evaluation.
• Dive deep into the REM process, theory and implementation tips.
• Learn to plan and conduct a REM evaluation step-by-step using the planning tool we created specifically for this course.
• Explore ways to code and analyze data from REM, and how to present the results back to the community, decision-makers and program investors.
• Get individual or small-group coaching on the specific aspects of REM that are most important to you.

By the end of this workshop, you will know how to use REM to track the direct and indirect impacts of your program with a side benefit of engaging and energizing program participants.

WHERE & WHEN

Three weekly classes (choose one of the options):

Option #1: Daytime, July 14-28

Tuesdays, July 14, 21 and 28

1-3 p.m. ET/10 a.m. – 12 p.m. PT 

Option #2: Evening, August 13-27

Thursdays, August 13, 20 and 27

7-9 p.m. ET/4-6 p.m. PT

COURSE FEE & MORE DETAILS

Sessions available for replay in case you need to miss a session or want to review.

Includes a one-on-one or team consultation session to address your particular situation and needs.

$400 early registration discount until June 26, $450 regular course fee.

Discounts for multiple participants from the same organization:

• $350 each for 2-4 participants
• $300 each for 5 or more

WHO IS THIS FOR?

Extension & community development professionals • Community and service organizations • Chambers of Commerce & business alliances • Place-based & conservation organizations • Historic preservation groups • Downtown & Main Street groups • Community leaders • Consultants & facilitators • Program evaluators

COURSE INSTRUCTORS

Debra Hansen — Originator of the REM method. Stevens County Extension Director and Professor with Washington State University, REM Studio Collaborative

Lorie Higgins — Extension Community Development Specialist and Professor of Rural Sociology at the University of Idaho, REM Studio Collaborative

Rebecca Sero —Extension Evaluation Specialist and Associate Professor at Washington State University, REM Studio Collaborative

Michele Archie — Community economics and engagement lead at The Harbinger Consultancy