You said it!

How do we know if we're moving in the right direction as an organization? We ask you! In January we sent out a survey to hear what you think of our work and over one hundred of you took the time to respond. 87% rated our anti-poverty projects as excellent or good. The survey was just a first step though. Now we'll do a series of interviews to help us understand the survey results. Then we'll finish the year with a strategic planning session bringing together members from all walks of life to map out the coming years for us. You can help us move this work forward by sending your ideas or questions or by donating.We'd like to share with you a few more results from the survey (here's a link to read or download the full results). Those of you who replied to the email noted that your involvement in ATD Fourth World (FWM) includes donating, participating in projects, helping run projects, doing internships, and being a full-time Volunteer Corps member (staff). We consider it a positive sign that over 70% of you have donated to FWM in the past and over 78% would consider donating in the future.38% of respondents did not participate in FWM events or projects in the last year, largely because many of you live too far from project locations. Taking the time to do this survey and stay involved shows a good level of loyalty to the organization, even when you can't participate regularly in projects. It is also a challenge to continue connections with many of you at a distance and if you have any ideas on member involvement we'd love to hear them. The most important reason you participate in FWM, according to the survey, is to help others and improve your communities. Many of you said that doing or learning things you don’t in other groups was an important factor in your participation.Overall respondents showed a lot of interest in and awareness of all FWM projects, including those with adults, with youth, with children, October 17 (the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty), and our United Nations representation.We asked you to analyze how FWM is doing in a number of different overall priorities. You rated us as very good at reaching the most vulnerable families in communities. While we received overall positive reviews in both areas, you said we were slightly better at reaching the most vulnerable people in communities than in helping individuals and families take steps out of poverty. The reviews were also less positive of our capacity to work in an organized, effective way. The reviews were very positive in the following areas: running projects that are different from other groups, serving the goals of communities, and raising awareness of persistent poverty and ways to overcome it.We look forward to working with you in future steps of this strategic planning. Get in touch if you have thoughts or questions you'd like to share with us. Any donations you can make will help us to complete this important work.You can download the full report by clicking here.