A community association needed a Community Needs Assessment to adjust its services and programs to meet changing demand.
Situation
The Varsity Community Association (VCA) is a non-profit organization that serves over 12,000 residents in their neighbourhood and beyond. The VCA had not had done a community needs assessment for some time and lacked actionable data to guide decisions on programs, events, services, and community-based initiatives.
Solution
Tenato took a 3-pronged approach to gather the required research; an online survey, competitive research, and resident interviews. The online survey was advertised through an e-mail marketing campaign and a print brochure with neighborhood-wide distribution. Four communities were selected and analyzed through online research and site visits. Residents who completed the online survey were given the opportunity to participate in an additional phone interview in which they could provide more in-depth insight. Tenato created a short list of residents who were a good cross-representation of VCA members, non-members, diverse ages, balanced genders, and residents who had lived in Varsity for different durations. Residents were contacted to explore why they chose to live in Varsity, why they have remained, and their wishes for new amenities or improvements.
Results
The research determined a key strength of Varsity versus other surrounding communities and made recommendations on how to build engagement around this key strength. Data and insights provided VCA management and the board with quality feedback to be used to guide future events, programs, services, and community-based initiatives. Further, the research gave the VCA confidence to make informed resource allocations with the needs of the community top of mind.
