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Assessing Capacity for Community Change Efforts: Learnings From an Adaptive Initiative [Slides] Should community change efforts be focused on funding coalitions or funding a flexible group of community leaders? The Kansas Health Foundation has embraced a four-pronged community change model that targets community leaders as key agents of change within each of their funded communities. Innovation Network, the evaluation partner for the Kansas Health Foundation's Healthy Communities Initiative, developed and deployed an assessment tool designed to contribute to the assessment of leadership capacity in effecting community change. Author: Kat Athanasiades, Veena Pankaj, and Deanna Van Hersh Type: Presentation Slides Date: Oct 17, 2013 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Background: Building Capacity for Public Policy Iniative The National Council of Nonprofit Associations (NCNA) evaluated the Building Capacity for Public Policy (BCPP) project. The results of the evaluation are summarized in this newsletter. NCNA states that "the lessons learned are applicable to any nonprofit organization trying to focus their efforts, to evaluate their readiness to engage in or to enhance their public policy efforts." It offers eight indicators of capacity for state associations to effectively engage in public policy: Author: National Council of Nonprofit Associations Type: Newsletters & Periodicals Date: Oct 1, 2004 Be the first to review this resource! Download (549.21 KB) -
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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BoardSource Knowledge Center BoardSource is a nonprofit organization that offers consulting, publications, and membership services to increase the effectiveness of nonprofit boards. Though many of the resources on BoardSource's website are available only to members, don't let that scare you. The Knowledge Center section of the website contains several free-access resources, including articles, white papers, and an extensive FAQ file. Author: BoardSource Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jan 18, 2008
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Building a Culture of Evaluation: 30 Ideas to Apply to Your Organization This fun infographic by Community Solutions shows 30 ways to build a culture of evaluation into your organization. Examples include starting with simple evaluations to demonstrate benefits and worth, positioning evaluation as a way of giving staff a voice, and scheduling time up front in the program planning phase to discuss evaluation.
Author: Community Solutions Type: Tipsheets & Paper Tools Date: Jan 1, 2011 Be the first to review this resource! Download (148.96 KB) -
Building Government Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Systems The Independent Evaluation Group ("IEG") of the World Bank offers this collection of monitoring and evaluation ("M&E") resources. Primarily geared for evaluation specialists building M&E systems for governments, this collection includes a wealth of tools, methodologies, guides, and case studies. Author: Independent Evaluation Group Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jan 18, 2008 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Can we obtain the required rigour without randomisation? Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in the international development sector need credible, reliable feedback on whether their interventions are making a meaningful difference but they struggle with how they can practically access it. Impact evaluation is research and, like all credible research, it takes time, resources, and expertise to do well, and – despite being under increasing pressure – most NGOs are not set up to rigorously evaluate the bulk of their work.
Author: Karl Hughes and Claire Hutchings Type: Research & Reports Date: Aug 1, 2011 Be the first to review this resource! Download (347.42 KB) -
Capaciteria Capaciteria is a community site for nonprofit capacity building. A free membership gives you access to a broad collection of capacity-building resources (over 3400 links!). The site encourages rating of resources and forum discussions, but it looks like those features aren't being fully used. Still, there's a lot of knowledge here. Author: Internaut Consulting Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jan 18, 2008
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Capacity and Organizational Readiness for Evaluation (CORE) Tool Capacity and Organizational Readiness for Evaluation (CORE) Tool is a succinct, fifteen-question organizational assessment tool. The CORE Tool assesses organizational readiness for evaluation and learning on three dimensions: Culture/Learning Environment; Organizational Leadership; and Resources, Systems, Structures, and Process. Author: Johanna Morariu, Ehren Reed, and Kathy Brennan Type: Tipsheets & Paper Tools Date: Mar 8, 2011 Point K Pick Be the first to review this resource! Download (115.62 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) -
CDC Evaluation Working Group A collection of online resources for evaluation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Evaluation Working Group Author: Centers for Disease Control Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jan 18, 2008 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Community Action Resources for Inuit, Métis and First Nations: Evaluating This kit is a self-help tool for Aboriginal people who want to get a community development project off the ground. The series of six manuals contains information, tips, examples and ready-to-use charts that you can copy and use for yourself or to train others in your community. It is intended to be user-friendly, emphasizing questions such as what, why, when and how to accomplish the different steps of a community development project.
Author: Health Canada Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: May 7, 2007
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Community Development Evaluation Storymap This interactive resource offers concise explanations and real-world applications of capacity assessment, performance measurement, and outcome evaluation approaches, along with information about recommended tools and resources for each process. Author: NeighborWorks® America Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jun 28, 2006 Be the first to review this resource! Download (6.01 MB) -
Creative Ways to Solicit Youth Input: A Hands-On Guide for Youth Practitioners To understand how our programs are doing, improve the quality of those programs and report to funders and other stakeholders, we collect information from a variety of sources: staff, parents, and the youth themselves. This manual provides ideas for other, creative ways to get input from youth.
Part One outlines a process you can use to plan your evaluation questions. Next, we present some key ideas to consider when implementing your evaluation, analyzing the results and reporting them.
Author: Public Profit Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: May 1, 2012
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Current Advocacy Evaluation Practice Framing Paper Written for the Advocacy Evaluation Advances convening in January 2009, this paper summarizes the current state of advocacy evaluation practice. The paper identifies four evaluation design questions and then offers common responses to those questions: Who will do the evaluation?; What will the evaluation measure?; When will the evaluation take place?; and What methodology will the evaluation use?
Author: Julia Coffman Type: Research & Reports Date: Jan 31, 2009 Be the first to review this resource! Download (297 KB) -
Dabbling in the Data: A Hands-On Guide to Participatory Data Analysis Many quality improvement trainings either ignore data interpretations or offer limited guidance about how to dig into the data. This means that whoever speaks up first sets the agenda for the group—hardly a rigorous or fruitful process. Educators and children and youth professionals are increasingly interested in utilizing data to support continuous quality improvement, but few resources are available to help practitioners know what to do.Author: Public Profit Type: Research & Reports Date: Jan 1, 2014 Be the first to review this resource! Download (1.3 MB) -
Data and Information Visualization Throughout the Life Cycle for Participatory Evaluation and Evaluation Capacity Building This is a handout containing a list of great resources to help improve your data visualization skills. The list provides links to websites that will help you design the right color scheme (such as Design Seeds), websites that provides basic information about principles of design, and great examples of how evaluators, statisticians, and computer scientists are using data viz to help us understand data better.
Author: Johanna Morariu and Veena Pankaj Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jan 1, 2013 Be the first to review this resource! Download (392.28 KB) -
Dataviz! Or, How to Win at Communication and Influence People (Resources Handout) Are you intrigued by data and information visualization—dataviz—and how it could improve your communication strategy? Are you interested in the range of dataviz options, but unsure which is right for you? Or are you maybe even drowning in data and looking for someone to throw you a life-saving suggestion for tools to transform your data into a message?
Author: Johanna Morariu Type: Tipsheets & Paper Tools Date: May 17, 2013 Point K Pick Be the first to review this resource! Download (510.3 KB) -
Designing a Results Framework for Achieving Results: A How-To Guide A results framework serves as a key tool in the development landscape, enabling practitioners to discuss and establish strategic development objectives and then link interventions to intermediate outcomes and results that directly relate to those objectives. This publication provides how-to guidance for developing results frameworks by discussing the following: Author: Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Sep 1, 2012 Be the first to review this resource! Download (834.16 KB) -
Enhancing Program Performance with Logic Models An online course from the University of Wisconsin, Extension on developing and applying logic models. Designed for the beginner, this user-friendly course includes an audio track, worksheets, resources, and examples. Author: University of Wisconsin - Extension Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jan 1, 2002 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Evaluating Adaptive Capacity and Skills + Resources Author: Kat Athanasiades Type: Presentation Slides Date: Oct 14, 2014 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Evaluating Networks for Social Change: A Casebook In response to the growing interest of grantmakers and network builders, this casebook profiles nine evaluations that address key questions about network effectiveness while expanding what is known about assessment approaches that fit with how networks develop and function.
Author: Center for Evaluation Innovation Type: Research & Reports Date: Jul 1, 2014 Be the first to review this resource! Download (1.12 MB) -
Evaluation as a Tool for Creating and Leading a Results-Based Learning Culture [Slides] Johanna Morariu and Will Fenn discussed effective evaluation initiatives, highlighting useful tools such as those available from Innovation Network’s Point K at the Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy 2013 National Conference in Chicago, IL. Author: Johanna Morariu and Will Fenn Type: Presentation Slides Date: Apr 5, 2013 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Evaluation Capacity Building: Examples and Lessons from the Field Innovation Network developed these three introductory evaluation documents as part of Building Nonprofit Capacity to Evaluate, Learn, and Grow Impact, a workshop we presented in partnership with Grantmakers for Effective Organizations' Scaling What Works initiative. Author: Johanna Morariu, Innovation Network, Inc. Type: Research & Reports Date: Apr 1, 2012 Point K Pick Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
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)