This is the second blog in a series where we share tools to help you design more effective trainings for your program or campaign. Last blog, we shared about purpose; today, we talk about goalsetting.
When it comes to setting goals for training, we often jump straight to headcount–
“How many people do we want to train?”
While important, this shouldn’t be the ultimate measure of success.
Goals should clarify the impact we want to have by answering the question:
What will learners be able to accomplish if we are successful?
The answer should be SMARTIE.
SMARTIE stands for Strategic, Measurable, Activating, Realistic, Time-bound, Inclusive, and Equitable.*
Let’s walk through each concept with real examples—and don’t forget to check out ourSMARTIE Goals for Trainers Worksheet to create your own!
✅ S – Strategic
To focus on impact, connect your training to an existing initiative—look in your strategic plan, job description, a grant proposal, or notes from your team retreat.
Example: “Start 3 new immigrant-led co-ops that provide living wages and benefits to their members.”
✅ M – Measurable
Don’t just pick an arbitrary number. Focus on what learners will do—and make sure it’s something you have capacity to measure.
Example: “Prepare 25 leaders at partner CBOs to deliver Know Your Rights trainings to community members.”
✅ A – Activating
Training should build agency and leadership—not just share knowledge. Use action verbs to define next steps.
Example: “Support public health workers to operationalize equity principles into their outreach activities.”
✅ R – Realistic
Set goals that build on what’s already working rather than starting from scratch.
Example: “Train members in our facilitation committee to lead our curriculum on racial solidarity.”
✅ T – Time-bound
Set milestones so your team knows what progress looks like—and can stay on track
Example: “Run first leadership cohort by end of summer 2024 and evaluate impact after 3 months.”
✅ I + E – Inclusive & Equitable
It’s not just about representation—embed equity by centering those most impacted in design and decision-making.
Example: “Co-design the training series with leaders from impacted communities, and offer it in English and Spanish.”
💡 Why It Matters
As we shared in our last newsletter on visualizing transformation, your training goal should clarify what success looks like—for learners, for your team, and for the people you serve.
Defining your goal up front helps you:
✅ Prioritize what to include (and what to leave out)
✅ Align internally on purpose and roles
✅ Convince stakeholders it’s worth the time and resources it requires
🧪 Bonus Tip: Treat Your Training Like an Experiment
Approach your training as an experiment to accomplish a specific result.
After the training, instead of measuring success or failure to accomplish your goal, ask:
What worked? What didn’t? What helped us move toward the goal?
This mindset helps your team stay curious and persistent.
Next up: we’ll share how to focus on the right stuff in your training and outreach materials by getting quick feedback from learners before the session begins.
*Credit to The Management Center, where we learned to put the “I&E” in the goal itself, and to Ruckus Society for lifting up the importance of a goal being activating by building leadership.
