SOAR SMART Objectives Toolkit - ethniccommunities.org

Project Strengthening Organizations Assisting Refugees (Project SOAR)
Guide to Writing SMART Objectives, Page 6 of 10
Builds shared understanding of your program and timelines for doing your work.
Connects activities to your desired goals and objectives.
During project implementation, setting objectives:
Creates accountability.
Helps you collect the data you need to document successes.
Gives you language to tell your clients why
they should take part in your programming,
and what they will get out of it.
Motivates your staff and volunteers.
Assists with prioritizing your work.
When writing reports and evaluating your
success, setting objectives:
Helps you see if you are meeting donors’
requirements. Federal, state, and private
funders are increasingly requiring applicants
to define measurable objectives that align
with their funding priorities.
Tip: When writing objectives,
use action verbs that
indicate a change and the
direction that the change
will take. Verbs such as:
learn, understand, feel
better, and be aware of, are
not specific because you
cannot observe people
performing these things. See
Appendix 1 for examples of
action verbs.
Helps managers and supervisors evaluate
staff and volunteers – and helps Boards evaluate executive directors.
Part III: What makes SMART objectives so smart
S
pecific. SMART objectives should outline who will be doing what, when, how
much and who will benefit. Specific objectives tell the people who will be
implementing the project exactly what is expected of them.
To determine if your objectives are specific, ask yourself if they answer these
questions:
Is it clear what we are going to do
Is the objective described with action verbs
Is it clear who will do the work
Do we state where the work will happen, and with and for whom
By December 31, 2008, provide linguistically appropriate cultural orientation to
90% of Karen Burmese arrivals. Provide linguistically appropriate cultural orientation
makes this objective specific.
This resource was produced by the International Rescue Committee under Cooperative Agreement #90RB0028/02 with the
U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement. You may distribute this resource with the following citation: Reprinted with the
permission of the IRC. With questions about Project SOAR, contact SOAR@theIRC.org.