Browse program evaluation practice Resources
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#JAGUnity2014: Innovations in Evaluating Social Movements Today, social movement organizers are grappling with big questions: What is the long-term impact we are hoping to make? How can we measure the progress we've made thus far? How can we learn from past practice? On June 7, 2014, Innovation Netowrk's William Fenn spoke on a panel with with Deepak Pateriya and Sian O'Faolain of the Center for Community Change and Hillary Klein of Make the Road New York to try and answer some of these questions. Author: Will Fenn, Deepak Pateriya, Sian O'Faolain, Hillary Klein Type: Presentation Slides Date: Jun 7, 2014 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
5 Evaluation Lessons From a Recovering Program Officer (Presentation slides) As a profession, evaluators must constantly demonstrate the value of their work to remain relevant. Each evaluation represents a significant investment in resources that many argue could be used to provide more programming. Author: Will Fenn Type: Presentation Slides Date: Oct 17, 2013 Point K Pick Be the first to review this resource! Download (4.05 MB) -
5 Evaluation Lessons from a Recovering Program Officer (recording) As a profession, evaluators must constantly demonstrate the value of their work to remain relevant. Each evaluation represents a significant investment in resources that many argue could be used to provide more programming. A primary concern of maintaining the value proposition of the evaluation field is ensuring that evaluations remain manageable and useful to all participants. The Ignite session offered five succinct lessons from a former foundation Program Officer that can be applied across program types to help nonprofits and foundations improve evaluation coordination and use. Author: Will Fenn Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Oct 17, 2013 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Advocacy and Policy Change This issue of Harvard Family Research Project's The Evaluation Exchange focuses entirely on advocacy evaluation. It features over two dozen articles on current evaluation practice, including theory, case studies, interviews, and practical tips. Author: Coffman, Julia (ed.) Type: Newsletters & Periodicals Date: Mar 1, 2007
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Agency Experiences with Outcome Measurement: Survey Findings As of January 2000, 400 United Ways across the country were asking programs they fund
to identify and measure their outcomes—the benefits or changes the programs want
participants to experience as a result of their services. United Ways are not alone. Many
state and local government agencies, foundations, managed care systems, and accrediting bodies
have added outcome measurement to the list of performance and accountability measures
they require of nonprofit organizations within their sphere.Author: United Way of America Type: Research & Reports Date: Jan 1, 2000 Be the first to review this resource! Download (209.74 KB) -
Approaches to Supporting Evaluation Capacity Building Myia Welsh and Johanna Morariu outline six lessons gleaned from their evaluation capacity building experiences with nonprofits, highlighting Innovation Network's white paper titled "Evaluation Capacity Building: Funder Initiatives to Strengthen Grantee Evaluation Capacity and Practice." Author: Johanna Morariu and Myia Welsh Type: Opinion (blog, editorial) Date: Aug 28, 2011 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Continuous Progress: Better Advocacy Through Evaluation Continuous Progress is an online collection of planning and evaluation tools and services for advocates and funders. Continuous Progress "Strategic Services" is a consulting practice that provides planning, evaluation, and communications expertise. Their featured project, the "Advocacy Progress Planner," is an online tool based on the Advocacy & Policy Change Composite Logic Model (q.v.) The website also offers guides for domestic (U.S.) and global advocacy efforts. Author: Global Interdependence Initiative Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jan 1, 2006
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Evaluability Assessment to Improve Public Health Policies, Programs, and Practices This article describes how evaluability assessment has benefited public health and could do so in future. We describe the rationale, history, and evolution of evaluability assessment. We outline the steps in the method and distinguish it from related concepts. We then illustrate how evaluability assessment can benefit public health in five ways:
Author: Laura C. Leviton, Laura Kettel Khan, Debra Rog, Nicola Dawkins, and David Cotton Type: Research & Reports Date: Jul 1, 2010 Be the first to review this resource! Download (380.53 KB) -
Evaluating Community Change: A Framework for Grantmakers The publication offers a framework for thinking about how to measure progress and results in place-based andcommunity change initiatives.Author: Grantmakers for Effective Organization (GEO) Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jan 1, 2014 Be the first to review this resource! Download (2.9 MB) -
Evaluating Complexity: Propositions for Improving Practice Evaluating Complexity: Propositions for Improving Practice asks civil society organizations to challenge the assumptions behind traditional evaluation models as they take steps toward evaluating complex initiatives and initiatives in complex environments.
Author: FSG Type: Research & Reports Date: Nov 17, 2014 Be the first to review this resource! Download (2.85 MB) -
Evaluating the Effectiveness of DFID's Influence with Multilaterals This report is based on investigations carried out over five weeks involving approximately 40 organizations in the international NGO community. The report covers four main topics
Author: Davies, Rick Type: Research & Reports Date: Aug 1, 2001 Be the first to review this resource! Download (436.5 KB) -
Evaluation Blogging: Improve Your Practice, Share Your Expertise, and Strengthen Your Network (Presentation slides) Want to start blogging about evaluation, but not sure where to start? Started, but want to know what to expect (or what to do next, or how to keep it going)? Ready to take your independent consulting practice to the next level? Author: Ann K. Emery, Susan Kistler, Chris Lysy, Sheila B. Robinson Type: Presentation Slides Date: Oct 19, 2013 Be the first to review this resource! Download (2.84 MB) -
EVALUATION CAPACITY BUILDING: Funder Initiatives to Strengthen Grantee Evaluation Capacity and Practice Evaluation Capacity Building (ECB) is the process of improving an organization’s ability to use evaluation to learn from its work and improve results. Organizational learning is incredibly important. Organizations that are adept at learning from mistakes and adapting to new challenges are more likely to be successful, and in the nonprofit sector, more likely to make significant progress toward mission-related outcomes. In general, ECB can be used to:
Author: Myia Welsh and Johanna Morariu Type: Research & Reports Date: Jun 15, 2011 Be the first to review this resource! Download (248.37 KB) -
Evaluation for the Way We Work Michael Quinn Patton describes the developmental evaluation approach. Here is an excerpt from the article:
Author: Michael Quinn Patton Type: Newsletters & Periodicals Date: Mar 21, 2006 Be the first to review this resource! Download (886 KB) -
Evaluation Needs Assessment The Evaluation Needs Assessment was created for use with a grantee cohort of twelve organizations, which received grant support and capacity building services for a period of three years.Directions: Share the tool in advance of an in-person meeting to allow for preparation. Meet to discuss an organization’s existing evaluation practice and goals for improvement. Seek mutual agreement of the evaluation capacity provider and grantee regarding how to apply evaluation technical assistance.Author: Johanna Morariu Type: Tipsheets & Paper Tools Date: Apr 25, 2011 Be the first to review this resource! Download (215.84 KB) -
Evaluation Principles and Practices: An Internal Working Paper The purpose of this document is to advance the Foundation’s existing work so that our evaluation practices become more consistent across the organization. We hope to create more common understanding of our philosophy, purpose, and expectations regarding evaluation as well as clarify staff roles and available support. With more consistency and shared understanding, we expect less wheel re-creation across program areas, greater learning from each other’s efforts, and faster progress in designing meaningful evaluations and applying the results.
Author: Fay Twersky & Karen Lindblom Type: Research & Reports Date: Jan 22, 2013 Be the first to review this resource! Download (1.42 MB) -
Guidance Note #4: Use of Impact Evaluation Results This is the fourth guidance note in a four-part series of notes related to impact evaluation developed by InterAction with financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation.This fourth guidance note, Use of Impact Evaluation Results, highlights three themes crucial for effective utilization of evaluation results.
Author: David Bonbright Type: Research & Reports Date: Nov 7, 2012 Be the first to review this resource! Download (1.84 MB) -
Guide to Monitoring and Evaluating policy influence Author: Harry Jones Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Feb 23, 2011 Be the first to review this resource! Download (171.99 KB) -
Impact Evaluation in Practice This book provides an overview of impact evaluation from the perspective of the Wold Bank.
Author: Paul J. Gertler, Sebastian Martinez, Patrick Premand, Laura B. Rawlings, Christel M. J. Vermeersch Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Jan 1, 2011 Be the first to review this resource! Download (3.06 MB) -
Integrating Evaluative Capacity Into Organizational Practice: A Guide for Nonprofit & Philanthropic Organizations & Their Stakeh This publication, Integrating Evaluative Capacity into Organizational Practice, was developed in response to the continuing need expressed by nonprofit trainees to further assess and operationalize evaluative thinking. It extends information first provided in 2006 in a series of short, electronic articles called Evaluative Thinking Bulletins. The guidebook is intended to
answer the following questions:Author: Anita Baker and Beth Bruner Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Jun 1, 2012 Be the first to review this resource! Download (1.87 MB) -
LearnPhilanthropy LearnPhilanthropy's Knowledge Library is a resource for people who are new to grantmaking or those seeking new ideas and tools to improve their grantmaking practice. Here you will find essential learning and new research on a range of common issues and key challenges in philanthropy. Working with leading organizations across the field, LearnPhilanthropy regularly updates this centralized library with reports, tools, and other resources. Author: LearnPhilanthropy Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Sep 23, 2014 Point K Pick Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Linking the Levels? The Organisation of UK Development NGO’s Advocacy Dr. Hudson researched the advocacy experiences of United Kingdom-based NGOs working with the UK Department for International Development. He discusses his research findings and their implications for policy and practice, including specific findings in regard to evaluation of advocacy efforts. Though written specifically about UK-based development and advocacy NGOs, the report's findings and recommendations may be applicable to any NGO engaged in advocacy. Author: Hudson, Alan Type: Research & Reports Date: Jun 1, 2002 Be the first to review this resource! Download (207.29 KB) -
Making an Impact: Impact Measurement among Charities and Social Enterprises in the UK Ten years ago, critics dismissed impact measurement as too difficult, misleading, or simply not important. Today, 75% of UK charities measure some or all of their work, and nearly three-quarters have invested more in measuring results over the last five years. Making an impact offers the first representative picture of the charity sector’s response to the challenge of impact measurement.
NPC surveyed 1,000 charities in the UK with incomes over £10,000 to understand what has changed in charities’ impact measurement practices, the drivers behind measuring impact, and the benefits and challenges that it brings.Author: Eibhlín Ní Ógáin, Tris Lumley, David Pritchard Type: Research & Reports Date: Oct 1, 2012 Be the first to review this resource! Download (726.51 KB) -
Measuring Impact in Practice: A Case Study of The Humane Society of the United States The Humane Society of the United States (The HSUS) is the nation’s largest animal protection organization.1
Just like all nonprofits, The HSUS is accountable—to the thousands of animals it helps or protects each year,
and to the thousands of individual, corporate, and foundation donors who enable The HSUS to fulfill its
mission of celebrating animals and confronting cruelty.Author: Beth Rosen Cohen Type: Research & Reports Date: Aug 31, 2010 Point K Pick Be the first to review this resource! Download (97.59 KB) -
Measuring Impact in Practice: A Case Study of The Humane Society of the United States The Humane Society of the United States (The HSUS) is the nation’s largest animal protection organization. Just like all nonprofits, The HSUS is accountable—to the thousands of animals it helps or protects each year, and to the thousands of individual, corporate, and foundation donors who enable The HSUS to fulfill its mission of celebrating animals and confronting cruelty.
Author: Beth Rosen Cohen Type: Research & Reports Date: Aug 1, 2010 Be the first to review this resource! Download (97.59 KB)