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Features of good projects

There are a number of common features present in successful community strengthening projects. These features will be evident in well-conceived project applications as objectives or project components and are incorporated into the evaluation criteria used for assessing projects.

Consideration of these features will help you formulate your project plan and then answer the questions in our application form. We recognise that not all projects will have equal capacity to involve all elements of these features but encourage applicants to maximise their coverage. These common features include:

Knowing your community

• What have you done to identify the strengths of your community; what are these strengths; and how will your project enhance these strengths further?
• What is the evidence about what is likely to work to tackle your chosen issue/situation and why has this approach/service/project been chosen?
• Is there information in a local, sub regional or regional plan which has been developed with input from relevant bodies including local government which supports your proposal or explains the need for it?
• How do your project's objectives, goals and intended outcomes align to Government priorities?

Working together

• What arrangements are proposed to ensure that partners make appropriate contributions in the planning, development and implementation of the project?
• Are the partners providing resources in flexible ways in order to meet the projects’ needs? (Resources can be monetary or in kind.)
• How will your project contribute to increased co-operation between key stakeholders in the delivery of increasingly integrated services?
• In what way does the project design and partnership arrangement include active participation across all levels of government, the community sector and business?

Who can help?

• How will the input of volunteers strengthen this project?
• Has the input of volunteers been utilised to the maximum extent possible?
• How will the project increase skills and opportunities for community members, particularly disengaged communities and individuals?

Trying new things

• In what ways will the project foster innovation so as to maximise its impact?
• Are you able to include new ideas and reforms of community ownership, planning and delivery in your project design?
• Have you considered and talked to relevant departments about how government services are delivered? Is there potential for a different approach?

Is everyone involved?

• How will your project engage with and involve a broad range of people and organisations?
• Are strategies for involving indigenous, culturally and linguistically diverse and people with disabilities included in the design and management of the project/service?

Will it make a lasting difference?

• Have you developed an approach/service which is designed to ensure ongoing positive impact for the wider community beyond the direct funding period?
• Will the project operate on a scale that is likely to have a meaningful impact on the community?
• How will you monitor progress and impact and are there ways that you can maximise learning from the project?
• How will technology be used to maintain the project's progress and support its outcomes?

The following table shows how we have incorporated these Common Features of Good Projects into the Evaluation Criteria to be used to assess projects.

Features of Good Projects	Evaluation Criteria
Knowing your community	Why
Working together Who can help?	Who
Trying new things Is everyone involved?	How
Will it make a lasting difference?	What will it achieve?

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