Centre for Stories

Centre for Stories is a vibrant, inclusive literary arts organisation, using storytelling to inspire social cohesion and improve the understanding of diverse communities. Centre for Stories helps organisations and individuals tell stories that engage, inform and influence through a variety of programs and services, including storytelling training, production services and mentoring.

Their purpose is to cultivate stories that inspire, spark empathy and challenge intolerance by empowering people whose experiences are often marginalised to share their perspectives, such as refugees, migrants, people of colour, sexual minorities, the elderly, and people living with disability.

Update (May 2023)
The full list of the Department of Local Government, Sporting and Cultural Industries Arts Organisations Investment Program (AOIP) recipients has been revealed and we are excited to see many Culture Counts clients on that list, including Centre for Stories. Culture Counts is thrilled to have played a small role in supporting their successful application. Last year we worked with Centre for Stories to generate an Online Insights Report which was used as evidence in their funding application. You can read the case study below.

Requirements

Centre for Stories engaged Culture Counts to conduct an evaluation of Writing Change, Writing Inclusion. Funded by The Ian Potter Foundation, Australia Council for the Arts and Centre for Stories Founders’ Circle, Writing Change, Writing Inclusion is a writing program offering support for early, emerging and established writers from culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD), and/or Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander backgrounds.

The program offers a range of activities including fellowships, a mentoring program, emerging writer courses, collaboration opportunities, networking and events opportunities. With the Writing Change, Writing Inclusion being a staple program across the next three years, Centre for Stories was seeking to implement an evaluation strategy to consistently collect participant feedback and report on the outcome achievements of the program.

Approach

The Writing Change, Writing Inclusion program evaluation was conducted by surveying participants of the program and was delivered through online surveys organised by Centre for Stories and distributed to participants. In partnership with Culture Counts, the surveys and Online Insights Report were designed and developed to evaluate the program’s strategic goals and outcomes.

Outcome

Centre for Stories Program Coordinator, Logan Griffiths, shares how the chosen evaluation approach helped the organisation illustrate the program’s impact, “Our work and approach are underpinned by creativity, authenticity, collaboration and inclusion. This evaluation demonstrates that the program we are offering meets these values. Accordingly, we are able to use this data for funding applications, when we seek donations and sponsorships. The findings in our Culture Counts Online Insights Report provide qualitative evidence that supports our mission to provide inclusive programming and safe environments for creativity.“

Key findings in the report provided Centre for Stories evidence of the program’s sustainability, such as an outstanding Net Promoter Score (NPS). NPS is a standardised metric that seeks to measure loyalty between an organisation and its audience. Respondents can choose a number from 0 to 10 from a menu, with 0 meaning ‘not likely at all’ and 10 meaning ‘extremely likely’.

When asked how likely they would be to recommend Writing Change, Writing Inclusion to a friend or colleague, 100% of program participants responded with a NPS of 10, classifying them as Promoters.

In noting the biggest takeaways from the evaluation, Logan said, “As this was a new program, we were able to use the data to determine whether to offer it as an ongoing program at Centre for Stories. We are able to provide the support that is specifically tailored to the needs of program participants, as well as use the evaluation to demonstrate our commitment to supporting and hearing the voices of those participating in the evaluation. We have used this reporting to inform our ongoing programming and incorporate feedback received to make our programs even stronger.”

Image attribution: Writing Change, Writing Inclusion, Hot Desk Fellowship participants. Photo by Centre for Stories, 2021.

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