Bi-Annual Reports are an opportunity for programs to reflect on what they are doing to achieve results (e.g. strategies), as well as the outcomes actually achieved.
In additional to reviewing your Bi-Annual Report narrative, the numbers generated in the VerticalChange Standard Report are used to evaluate your programs' results. You should review these numbers periodically to check for accuracy.
Here are some tools that we suggest you look at first before reviewing your numbers:
1. Read through the Details on Calculations article to understand how the numbers are being generated in the report
2. If you are not familiar with using the VerticalChange Report Builder, you may want to browse our Reporting help center to familiarize yourself with the basic functions of the Report Builder
3. Watch this Evaluation Refresher Training hosted by First 5, UCSB and VerticalChange
Starting at 1:46:55 - we discuss ways to check for accuracy and clean up your data using the Report Builder
The link above is only available to users with a valid login. If you need a login, please contact your program officer at First 5 Santa Barbara
4. Export the report as a CSV for advanced filtering and sorting in Excel
Some of the important things you'll want to look out for when reviewing your data in the Report Builder:
When pulling Intake form data, look for empty cells in the Ethnicity, Zip Code, or Date of Birth columns. If these are missing, you could have Unknown counts in your BAR report.
Check that your child has a Related Family associated with it by pulling in the Related Family Unique ID
Scan your date fields - Date of Activity, Date of Birth, etc. - and confirm that dates are within the fiscal year you need, and that dates are accurate
If you notice repeated fields that are entered wrong, use the Administered by and Last Updated by fields to see the user who may be entering in the data incorrectly
Check your Fiscal Year Participating field and ensure that the correct fiscal year is selected, particularly for clients who are moving into a new fiscal year
Review the responses for the First 5-funded client? column to see if any of your results are No. If so, double check that this is the accurate response
Confirm that the Type of Client has either Adult or Child - if this is missing, they could be showing up as an Unknown in your BAR report.
Check the Date of Birth dates entered for Adult clients and confirm that the dates weren't accidentally entered as the child's Date of Birth (you should expect to see years far in the past, and no recent dates). You can also do the same thing for Child contacts!
If you have any questions about your data, please reach out to us in the chat box, or at support@verticalchange.com