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9 Steps to Advocacy Evaluation Many organizations are using advocacy strategies to meet their missions. Just like any other work that foundations and nonprofits engage in, advocacy needs to be continually assessed, tweaked, and strengthened through a process of evaluation and learning. In this webinar with the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, Johanna Morariu and Will Fenn shared the nine steps of advocacy evaluation. The webinar is based on Innovation Network's report titled "Pathfinder: A Practical Guide to Advocacy Evaluation." The webinar took place on Wednesday, June 26, 2013. Author: Johanna Morariu and William Fenn, Innovation Network Type: Presentation Slides Date: Jun 26, 2013 Point K Pick Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
A Guide to Actionable Measurement Staff members from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation discuss the principles and practices they use to make decisions about data collection, analysis, and reporting. Their approach, "actionable measurement," emphasizes the collection of information for specific decisions or actions.
UPDATE: We had a broken link here. It was updated on Jan. 13, 2011.
Author: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Type: Research & Reports Date: May 10, 2010
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A Guide to Measuring Advocacy and Policy Developed for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, this guide serves as a broad call to grantmakers to build and advance the field of advocacy and policy evaluation. The guide includes sections on the context of advocacy evaluation and evaluation design. Author: Reisman, Jane, et al. Type: Research & Reports Date: Mar 15, 2007
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A Guide to Measuring Advocacy and Policy This guide provides some perspective on where the field of philanthropy has been with regard to evaluation of advocacy and policy and also acknowledges the unique issues and challenges associated with measuring these efforts. In addition, this guide serves as an invitation to grantmakers to engage in and expand thinking about evaluation as it relates to advocacy and policy efforts. As seriously as many grantmakers take their investments in this area, foundations should also take seriously the need to advance evaluation of advocacy and policy work.
Author: Prepared for Annie E. Casey Foundation Research by Organizational Research Services Type: Research & Reports Date: Jan 1, 2007 Be the first to review this resource! Download (255.04 KB) -
A Helpful Guide to Failure in Philanthropy. Use Carefully. Larry Blumenthal's article provides perspective about the fear of failure in philanthropy, and how to overcome that fear so foundations can learn from their mistakes (and other foundation's mistakes) to achieve their mission and program goals. Author: LARRY BLUMENTHAL Type: Newsletters & Periodicals Date: Jan 7, 2010 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
A Practical Guide for Engaging Stakeholders in Developing Evaluation Questions This guide describes a five-step process for engaging stakeholders in developing evaluation
questions, and includes four worksheets and a case example to further facilitate the planning
and implementation of your stakeholder engagement process.Step 1: Prepare for stakeholder engagement: This step includes collecting information about
the program or initiative being evaluated—its history, why it came into being, what it is trying
to accomplish and what success would look like.Author: Hallie Preskill and Nathalie Jones Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Jun 1, 2009 Be the first to review this resource! Download (1001.41 KB) -
A Practical Guide to Documenting Influence and Leverage In Making Connections Communities This guide offers practical steps for capturing and documenting the effects of influence and leverage in Casey's making Connections communities. Through examples of influence and leverage outcomes -- as well as tools and methods for data collection -- this guide pointed the way for Making Connections teams, partners and funders to better communicate and refine strategies to help improve the lives of vulnerable children.
Author: Commissioned by Annie E. Casey Foundation. Researched by Organizational Research Services. Type: Research & Reports Date: Dec 8, 2004 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
A Practical Guide to Documenting Influence and Leverage In Making Connections Communities How does one document influence (change in policies, systems, practices and/or opinions that support one’s strategies) and leverage (investment by public and private funders in one’s strategies)?
Author: Organizational Research Services Type: Research & Reports Date: Feb 12, 2007
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A Practical Guide to Evaluating Systems Change in a Human Services System Context This Guide is for evaluators who would like a practical “way in” to thinking about systems and systemschange. The key practical step the Guide takes is to limit the type of system to be evaluated to aparticular type of system (a type that systems change initiatives often target): a human servicesdelivery system (e.g. health, education, workforce development, etc.).Author: Nancy Latham Type: Research & Reports Date: Jan 1, 2015 Be the first to review this resource! Download (1.03 MB) -
A User's Guide to Advocacy Evaluation Planning Julia Coffman of Harvard Family Research Project produced this free guide to advocacy evaluation planning for advocates, evaluators, and funders. The guide introduces users to the composite logic model and includes a pullout worksheet along with several lists of sample advocacy evaluation outcomes and methods. Author: Julia Coffman Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Sep 1, 2009 Point K Pick
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Advocacy Evaluation Update (Issue #7, October 2009) The seventh issue of Advocacy Evaluation Update (AEU) newsletter was the first produced as part of the strategic partnership between Innovation Network and the Center for Evaluation Innovation. It was also the first edited by Julia Coffman, an experienced evaluator and the Center's Director.
1. Feature: Good in Theory, But Does It Work in Practice? By Simon Starling, Oxfam Great Britain
2. Profiles from the Field: The Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California San Francisco
Author: The Center for Evaluation Innovation; Innovation Network Type: Newsletters & Periodicals Date: Oct 28, 2009 Be the first to review this resource! Download (491.56 KB) -
Advocacy Funding: The Philanthropy of Changing Minds This guide is primarily for grantmakers, but contains information relevant to grantees. In its last section, "Defining and Measuring Success," the publication highlights general questions regarding advocacy evaluation. The publication defines process, outcome, and impact evaluations of advocacy, and provides examples to illustrate each type. Author: GrantCraft Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Jun 1, 2005 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Advocacy Guide: InterAction's Eight Steps to Strategic Advocacy This short guide gives an overview of eight steps of a strategic advocacy campaign. These eight steps align with the eight sections in InterAction's Advocacy Toolkit (q.v.).
The steps are:- Pick Your Issue
- Setting Goals
- Lay of the Land
- Identify Your Targets
- Communications
- Tactics and Timeline
- Resource Management, and
- Evaluation.
Author: InterAction Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Jan 1, 2006
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Advocacy in Action: A toolkit to support NGOs and CBOs responding to HIV/AIDS This toolkit is a guide to facilitating a workshop for planning an advocacy effort. Section 2.8 of the toolkit (pp. 56-60) presents step-by-step instructions to selecting and monitoring indicators, and performing an evaluation. Author: International HIV/AIDS Alliance Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Jan 1, 2002 Be the first to review this resource! Download (2.01 MB) -
Advocacy Strategies for Civil Society: A Conceptual Framework and Practitioner’s Guide Fox and Helweg developed this publication to help USAID evaluate advocacy components of international development projects. The publication discusses advocacy strategies as part of a developmental project, how to choose the correct advocacy strategy for a project, and the process of identifying and developing advocacy capacity building needs. Author: Fox, Leslie M., and Helweg, Priya Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Jan 1, 1997
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Advocacy Toolkit: Creating Campaigns that Change the World This toolkit was designed as a reference guide for staff of relief and development organizations who are seeking domestic (U.S.) support for international issues. The guide grew out of the work of InterAction's Outreach and Communications Working Group, "a forum for communications, fundraising, volunteering, advocacy, and grassroots organization, where professionals come together to share experiences, lessons learned, and collaborate whenever possible."
The advocacy toolkit contains eight sections:Author: InterAction Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Jan 1, 2006
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An Essential Guide to SWOT Analysis The Essential Guide to SWOT Analysis is the end product of a unique collaboration. As previously noted, through my work at a startup, I realized that there were no great, comprehensive SWOT guides out there, especially for people in the business world. So, I enlisted my college mentor, Justin Gomer, a Lecturer at UC Berkeley, and we decided to make a comprehensive guide ourselves. Author: Justin Gomer & Jackson Hille Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jan 1, 2014 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Are We There Yet? A Communications Evaluation Guide Produced by Asibey Consulting for The Communications Network, this report was created for philanthropic organizations and nonprofits seeking to evaluate and improve their communications. The authors conducted surveys and interviews to examine current practices in communications evaluation. This document includes several worksheets to help readers take action on the report's recommendations. Author: Asibey Consulting and The Communications Network Type: Research & Reports Date: Jan 1, 2008
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Basic Guide to Non-Profit Financial Management Carter McNamara's collection of information about nonprofit financial management, part of his Free Management Library. Topics include:
- Activities in the Yearly Accounting Cycle,
- Bookkeeping and Controls,
- Designing a Budget,
- Managing Cash Flow,
- Credit and Collections,
- Budget Deviation Analysis,
- Managing Program Finances, and
- Financial Statements.
Author: McNamara, Carter (ed.) Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jan 18, 2008 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Basic Guide to Outcomes-Based Evaluation for Nonprofit Organizations with Very Limited Resources Aimed specifically at small nonprofits with limited resources, this is a complete, practical guide for a small scale, do-it-yourself outcomes evaluation. Author: McNamara, Carter (ed.) Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jan 18, 2008 Point K Pick
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Basic Guide to Program Evaluation Carter McNamara's guide to evaluation, part of his Free Management Library and drawn from his book Field Guide to Nonprofit Program Design, Marketing and Evaluation. This guide covers the hows and whys of evaluation, an overview of evaluation and data collection methodologies and how to choose between them, analysis and interpretation advice, and other tips. Author: McNamara, Carter (ed.) Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jan 18, 2008
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Basics of Conducting Focus Groups This is a succinct guide to running a focus group. It includes tips for preparation, developing questions, session planning, facilitation, and followup activities. Author: McNamara, Carter (ed.) Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jan 18, 2008 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Catholic Relief Services (CRS): Guide pour l’élaboration des cadres logiques et de résultats Vue d’ensemble
Le présent document propose une synthèse des orientations du Catholic Relief Services (CRS) pour l’élaboration des cadres logiques et de résultats.Author: Carlisle J. Levine Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Jan 31, 2007 Be the first to review this resource! Download (210.09 KB) -
Catholic Relief Services' (CRS) Guidance for Developing Logical and Results Frameworks This document summarizes Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) guidance for developing logical and results frameworks.
• logical framework “is a systematic and visual way to present and share your understanding of the relationships among the resources you have to operate your program, the activities you plan, and the changes or results you hope to achieve.”CRS’ proframe and the U.K. Department for International Development’s (DFID’s) logframe are examples of logical frameworks.
Author: Carlisle J. Levine Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Jan 31, 2007 Be the first to review this resource! Download (196.44 KB) -
Community-Based Project Evaluation Guide This 76-page .pdf evaluation guide was originally created in 1997. It was updated in 2000. The guide is intended to help practitioners evaluate community-based programs with a focus on children, youth, and families. The guide explores the links between theory and research, goals and objectives, measures, variables, and program implementation. It includes examples of outcomes for children and youth issue areas, samples, and worksheets. Author: Callor, Suzanne et al. Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Dec 14, 2000 Be the first to review this resource! Download (235.68 KB)