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Proving the impact of Top Blokes’ mentoring programs has always been a priority for the Australian organization working to improve the health and well-being of young males. To demonstrate the real value of their programs, Top Blokes turned to Socialsuite’s outcomes measurement platform - and saved hundreds of hours along the way.
In a complex world where adequate guidance and positive role models are not always available, boys and young men in Australia are struggling - from poor mental health and aggressive behaviour to high suicide rates and incarceration. Top Blokes recognised the need to create a cultural change in young men's health. This meant empowering all young men to play their part in changing the culture. They designed mentoring programs that help boys to break down these complex social issues and build a foundation of knowledge, empathy, healthy expression, health-seeking behaviours and attitudes, and the ability to provide support to their mates.
Through key mentoring programs delivered to groups of young men to address current and emerging social issues, helping all young males develop decision-making skills, foster critical thinking and improve their health.
We now have the stats to back up exactly how we make an impact with the work we do.
It’s important for Top Blokes to be able to measure the degree of improvement in mental health, lifestyle behaviours and attitudes, knowledge and skill sets due to their programs. “We have this amazing program, we don’t want to be tokenistic, we want to make sure we can show tangible change,” says Amy Harvison, Head of Programs and Operations at Top Blokes.
Pulling together a report on the impact we were making to present to our funding bodies and schools took us an average of nine hours per school.
Amy Harvison
Head of Programs and Operations @ Top Blokes
Working with 60 odd schools, they were pulling data manually from Survey Monkey and trying to align the collected data to their outcome reporting framework. “The next logical step was to invest in automating that process to save us time.”
Socialsuite’s outcomes measurement platform has automated Top Blokes’ entire outcomes measurement process, saving them 540 hours every year - freeing up staff to focus on improving the program delivery and building relationships. Socialsuite’s central data collection allows all frontline staff and volunteers to collect impact data from any location.
Staff use Socialsuite’s registration page feature where they can automatically enroll boys into school specific cohorts. Automatic prompts get the boys to complete the survey at set milestones to monitor their progress. And Amy can monitor incomplete surveys to help ensure submission remains high throughout –eliminating large gaps in evaluations.
Generating high quality reports takes minutes now. The entire measurement process has become embedded in the normal operation of Top Blokes’ programs, leaving the team more time to focus on what really matters.
Top Blokes have been using impact data as a powerful selling tools. Thanks to their measurement framework run through Socialsuite, they have been able to prove their impact. Important metrics like boys’ attendance at school, rate of detention and health and wellbeing have all improved significantly through the program.
We can now go to schools and the Department of Education and showcase a clear cost-benefit analysis for our programs. We can save schools nine times the cost by reducing negative behaviours that end in suspension, expulsion and detentions.
Amy Harvison
Head of Programs and Operations @ Top Blokes
The data for younger boys also clearly shows a change of behaviour – a huge component in their fundraising. “We now have the stats to back up exactly how we make an impact with the work we do.”
Visit the Top Blokes website to learn more about their mission to improve young men's health and well-being.