Innovators in Rural Community Economic Development

Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Outcome Funding Evaluation

Tags: Agriculture, Evaluation, Natural Resource Based Economic Development

Client Name: Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NESARE), University of Vermont

Client Type: Education/Research Institution, Federal Agency

Year: 2006, 2007

Location: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Vermont, Washington DC

Yellow Wood evaluated the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and its work helping advance farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities through a nationwide research and education grants program. Several years ago, the Northeast region of SARE decided to start using an outcome funding approach to grantmaking, which involves setting goals, creating performance targets and milestones to achieve specific outcomes. Yellow Wood evaluated 16 Professional Development and 32 Research and Education projects funded by the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NESARE) program to determine the success of the projects as well as the success of the outcome funding approach.