Elements to consider in a Social Project

What is a Social Project?

When referring to a "social project", we understand it as any social action, individual or group, aimed at producing changes in a certain reality that involves and affects a certain social group (Martinic, S., 1996). The desired changes are understood as a positive advance in the reality to be intervened, specifically an improvement in the conditions and quality of life of the subjects involved in said reality is expected.

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Each element to consider is described below:

DIAGNOSIS

1.- Background or problematic situation
In this section, you must write the identification of the social problem or problems that you intend to eradicate, explaining the priority or urgency that they acquire, in order to substantiate and justify the need to invest resources for their elimination. solution. Simultaneously, from the diagnosis it should be made visible that the proposed intervention with the Project is an adequate, pertinent and viable solution for the problem in question.

2.- Scope
This section must identify the social group that suffers from the Problem(s) and the way in which the consequences are expressed in them, characterizing the situation in which they find themselves. In the same way, it should be described who will be the "direct and indirect beneficiaries" of the project.

3.- Description of the central problem
Once the information on the problem situation has been systematized and analysed, the main problem that explains -to a great extent- the condition and state of the reality studied must be identified. Define and describe its causes (origin) and main effects (consequences), for those who suffer from it.

PROJECT PLANNING

1.- General objective The general objective
Is understood as the one that proposes the solution to the problem in a global way, that is, the main goal that is to be pursued. When formulating this objective, it must be taken into account that the idea to be conveyed must be synthesized as much as possible and that, as a general rule, there should only be one.

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To write the general objective I must ask myself the following questions:

• What do I want to achieve?
• Why do I want to achieve it?
• By what means do I want to achieve?

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The general objective must have the following structure in its writing:

OPERATIVE VERB | CONTENT | LEVEL OF REQUIREMENT | CONTEXT

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Example of an overall goal:

Offer Mexican students study opportunities within the United States of America where they can have vocational guidance, psychological support, implementation of personal and coexistence values, financial education, virtual support for parents, approach to the English language, medical assistance and financial support 'so that they have better life opportunities through the Education Beyond High School Foundation.

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2.- Specific Objectivess
They are the necessary means to achieve the general objective. They refer to more specific issues, to those that speak of each of the strategies or actions proposed. They must be more specific and 100% measurable, in addition to being aimed, on the one hand, at providing a solution to the specific action proposed and, on the other, they must add to the achievement of the general objective. There may be several specific objectives.

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To write each specific objective I must ask myself the following questions:

• What do I want to achieve?
• How much do I want to achieve?
• Why do I want to achieve it?
• By what means do I want to achieve?

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Each specific objective must have the following structure in its wording:

OPERATIVE VERB | MEASURABLE CONTENT | LEVEL OF REQUIREMENT | CONTEXT

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Example of a specific objective:
Provide 60% of Mexican students with the necessary financial support so that they can study a technical career within the United States of America through the Education Beyond High School Foundation.

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As a suggestion, what is highlighted in the level of demand (with green) of the general objective should be considered as specific objectives. Understanding that there would then be 8 specific objectives:

• One for vocational guidance
• Another for psychological support
• Another for personal and coexistence values
• Another for financial education
• Another for virtual support for parents
• Another for the English language
• Another for medical assistance
• And another for financial support (which is the one I gave as an example )

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3.- Strategy to be implemented
This section must describe: What will be the way to develop the specific objectives? And consequently, by developing them, the general objective can be achieved.

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4.- Lines of action
Each specific objective must have a line of action. The line of action refers first to describing what it is intended to work on in that area.

After what is intended to be worked on is described, the activities of that line of action must be written so that the specific objective can be achieved with them.

PROJECT EVALUATION

This section aims to describe what will be the way in which the implementation of the project will be evaluated? To know if the actions that are carried out once the project is implemented, may be the correct ones for its proper functioning.