Evaluating Advocacy and Policy Change

Innovation Network is a leader in the advocacy and policy evaluation field. Our involvement began in 2005, when a group of forward-thinking foundations commissioned the Advocacy Evaluation Project. This 3-year project was aimed at stimulating conversation and spurring progress in the field. Since then, our advocacy evaluation portfolio has expanded to include:

Consulting Projects | Research | Resources Database | Training | Newsletter

Consulting Projects

We have completed or are currently working on advocacy evaluation projects for:

Advocates for Youth | California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC) | CARE | Carnegie Corporation of New York | Colorado Trust | Connecticut Health Foundation | Genetic Alliance | Hunt Alternatives Fund / Initiative for Inclusive Security | National Council of La Raza (NCLR) | Physicians for Human Rights | Post Carbon Institute | Reform Immigration FOR America | The Atlantic Philanthropies | The California Endowment | U.S. Human Rights Fund | Unbound Philanthropy | Washington Area Women’s Foundation

Research

Innovation Network has contributed several publications and research projects to the ever-expanding field of advocacy evaluation. Read more details on our Research Page.

Resources Database

In addition to conducting our own research and producing tools and methodologies for the field, we also keep an eye out for other useful contributions. Our Point K Learning Center (www.innonet.org/pointk) is the comprehensive resource database for the advocacy evaluation field. Point K contains more than 160 tools, reports, articles, and other resources specifically for advocacy evaluation, searchable by topic area, keyword, geographic area, and more. Free registration is required.

Training

We have delivered our "Fundamentals of Advocacy Evaluation" training to hundreds of participants, delving into:

• How change occurs in the policy arena and the challenges it presents for evaluation;
• Guidelines for conducting advocacy evaluations, and
• How to identify appropriate interim outcomes.

"Fundamentals of Advocacy Evaluation" is available as an in-person workshop or an online training. Learn more on our Training page.

Newsletter

The Advocacy Evaluation Update, now with over 1,300 subscribers, began in 2007 as a publication of Innovation Network. We produced six issues (available on our newsletters page and in Point K) before handing the editing reins over to our strategic partner, the Center for Evaluation Innovation, in October 2009. Innovation Network staff continues to contribute to the newsletter, writing articles and assisting in production and subscriber management. Learn more and subscribe to the Advocacy Evaluation Update on the Center's website.