How We Help
Individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities are often left out of the workforce. This is attributable to practical and logistical barriers—such as a lack of transportation or proper training of employers—as well as outmoded beliefs rooted in protectionism of individuals with disabilities. In fact, employment of individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities may help offset labor shortages in various service sectors. Our grant-making programs are designed to help mitigate the social problems of unemployment and poverty by assisting those presently affected to engage in employment and entrepreneurial pursuits of their choosing. This is our vision.
What We Do
Who We Help
How We Do It
CommonWealth GrantWorks Foundation, Inc. is committed to providing as many grants as possible to qualified individuals residing in Western Massachusetts. Our giving is done on a rolling basis.
Our selection committee meets quarterly to review applications for one-time and/or recurring small investments. Applicant interviews are conducted as needed.
We are committed to demonstrating the impact our foundation has on the community. We evaluate our giving programs in the following ways:
- Quantitative methods, including evaluation of total clients and types of grants made
- Qualitative methods, including self-report evaluation of client experience and satisfaction
Specific variables to be included in our mixed methods analyses include demographics of and total clients served; total number and type of grants made; geographic regions served; client outcome, experience, and satisfaction; organizational growth and fund acquisition, etc.
We will collect, store, and extract data from our robust electronic data capture system. Data will be de-identified when shared with board members or external stakeholders, and when referenced in reports or other prepared documents.
In conclusion, we will use a mixed method approach to evaluate our charitable giving activities over time. Using a robust electronic data capture system will enable us to conduct pre-post analyses. These analyses will be used to assess quantitative outcomes, and process evaluation will be used to assess qualitative outcomes.
