Evaluation in Action

Here's how one organization uses Innovation Network's services, tools, and resources to make a difference in their work.

The Organization: Jubilee Enterprise

Established 15 years ago, The Jubilee Enterprise of Greater Washington, Inc. (“Jubilee Enterprise”) works to revitalize the lives of residents and build capacity in underserved communities of Washington D.C., through the creation of affordable housing and various community programs.

The Program: ACCESS

One program that has been impacted positively by evaluation is called “ACCESS” (Academic Coaching and Cultural Enrichment for Student Success), a community program that provides a safe and enriching environment for students after school and during the summer.

The Challenge:

Jubilee Enterprise started using Innovation Network’s online tools when it was asked by its funder to transform “good feeling” anecdotal goals of the ACCESS program into concrete, observable outcomes. In addition, the funder wanted to more clearly understand the demonstrated link between program outputs and intended goals.

Through self guided use of Innovation Network’s online tools and resources, including the Program Plan and Evaluation Plan (the precursors to our current Logic Model Builder and Evaluation Plan Builder), Jubilee Enterprise feels they have improved overall organizational planning, financial accountability, and increased their evaluation capacity.

The Opportunity:

Today, Jubilee Enterprise has begun using logic models and evaluation plans in their proposals, and is currently in the process of evaluating their 2004-05 ACCESS program. After recently finishing their first official evaluation for a funder, the organization is confident in their program accountability and ability to deliver realistic promises to funders.

Jubilee Enterprise has strived to implement evaluation throughout the remaining areas of their organization, by defining the implementation of logic models and evaluation plans as a professional development goal for all staff members. Each program site will be responsible for identifying specific goals and outcomes for its individual programs, and deciding how those results will be assessed.

As Jubilee Enterprise looks forward to a successful future, they summarize the positive impact that evaluation has had on their organization: “We have a greater clarity around what we do, why it matters, and how it impacts our participants. We also have clarity around how our activities link to the outcomes we want to achieve. This knowledge absolutely helps us make decisions about how we spend our time, and how we construct our work.”

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