Browse Data Collection Resources
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State of Evaluation - Russian translation The Project: Nonprofits hear a lot of talk about evaluation these days—metrics and measurements, indicators and impact, efficiency and effectiveness. Everyone, from donors to board members, seems to want evaluation results. But there was a big knowledge gap around evaluation practice: What are nonprofits really doing to evaluate their work? How are they really using evaluation results? What support are they getting? What else do they need?
Author: Innovation Network Type: Research & Reports Date: Feb 3, 2011 Be the first to review this resource! Download (6.78 MB) -
State of Evaluation 2012: Evaluation Practice and Capacity in the Nonprofit Sector The State of Evaluation 2012 report marks the second time Innovation Network has surveyed the U.S. nonprofit field to learn about evaluation practices and capacities! To learn more about the project, visit www.stateofevaluation.org. Author: Johanna Morariu, Katherine Athanasiades, and Ann K. Emery of Innovation Network, Inc. Type: Research & Reports Date: Oct 1, 2012 Point K Pick Be the first to review this resource! Download (2.63 MB) -
State of Evaluation in the Social Sector Measurement, evaluation, and learning are hotter than ever in the social sector. Foundations and nonprofits are focused on answering the question What difference are we making? And the field of evaluation has advanced in promising ways, developing meaningful evaluation approaches to better fit the latest philanthropic and nonprofit strategies. Author: Johanna Morariu and Will Fenn Type: Templates & Samples Date: Mar 21, 2013 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
State of the Field: Updated, Longitudal Findings about Nonprofit and Philanthropic Evaluation Practices and Capacities [Slides] The State of Evaluation project provides valuable insight to all those who work in and with the nonprofit sector. The project is designed to collect longitudinal data to document evaluation trends in the U.S. nonprofit sector, including how nonprofits staff evaluation, how evaluation is funded, why evaluation is undertaken, how evaluation results are used, and much more. This year marks the beginning of longitudinal data and analysis, drawing from the first iteration of the project in 2010. Author: Johanna Morariu Type: Presentation Slides Date: Oct 27, 2012 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Statistical Confidence in a Survey: How Many is Enough? An informative article about the "myths, misinformation, and must-haves" about sample sizes and confidence intervals. Author: Van Bennekom, Fred Type: Newsletters & Periodicals Date: Oct 1, 2003 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Statistics Every Writer Should Know Simple explanations of basic statistics written for reporters and writers, but useful for everyone who needs to work with statistics and evaluation reporting. Author: Niles, Robert Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jan 18, 2008 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Statistics Tutorial Offered at a number of international workshops, this PowerPoint tutorial aims to help you develop a 'gut feeling' for key statistical concepts, concentrating on meaning rather than formulae. Author: Dix, Alan Type: Presentation Slides Date: Jan 18, 2008
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Strategic Communications Audits This Issue Brief, a Working Brief from the Communication Consortium Media Center's Media Evaluation Project, explains how a nonprofit organization can conduct an analysis of its communications efforts in the areas of Strategy, Implementation, and Support and Alignment. The Issue Brief can also be used as a tool, as it includes a table relating Essential Strategic Communications Practices and their corresponding Quality Criteria/Standards. Additionally, there is an organizational "Practice Maturity Scale" to assist a nonprofit in determining its level of communications expertise. Author: Coffman, Julia Type: Research & Reports Date: Oct 1, 2004
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Strengthening Anti-Hunger Advocacy in California: Evaluation of the California Nutrition Initiative 1998-2001 MAZON launched the California Nutrition Initiative (CNI) in 1998. The CNI’s purpose was "to improve the nutritional health and well-being of low-income Californians by strengthening the capacity of the state’s non-profit and anti-hunger network." This evaluation report on the projects first four years identifies strategies that could be used to replicate MAZON's successes, including network development and awareness-building. Author: Leventhal/Kline Management Inc. Type: Research & Reports Date: Jun 1, 2003 Be the first to review this resource! Download (1.32 MB) -
Survey Question Content The Question Content section of section of Cornell University’s "Research Methods Knowledge Base", a comprehensive web-based textbook that addresses many topics in social research methods Author: Trochim, William M.K. Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jan 1, 2000 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Survey Research The survey section of section of Cornell University’s "Research Methods Knowledge Base," a comprehensive web-based textbook that addresses many topics in social research methods. Author: Trochim, William M.K. Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jan 1, 2000 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Survey Response Options A compilation of scaled survey response options. There are samples range from dichotomous scales to 7-point scales. Author: Harris, Betty A. Type: Templates & Samples Date: Jan 18, 2008 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats The Community Tool Box is a service of the Work Group for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas. Their SWOT Guide is comprehensive, user friendly and a great resource for any evaluator within the public health or community development field.
Author: The Community Tool Box Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jan 1, 2014 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Taking Stock: A Practical Guide to Evaluating Your Own Programs A manual from Horizon Research providing an overview of program evaluation. Author: Bond, Sally L., et al. Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Jun 1, 1997 Be the first to review this resource! Download (241.82 KB) -
Terms, Tips, & Trends: Evaluation Essentials for Nonprofits (Mindmap) Are you ready to launch an evaluation, but not sure where to start? Wondering how much you should budget for it, or who should be involved? Although 90% of nonprofits are engaged in evaluation, it continues to be one of the most misunderstood and mysterious functions of nonprofit management. In this Evaluation 101-level webinar, Innovation Network's team introduced key evaluation concepts, approaches, and methods.
Author: Johanna Morariu and Ann Emery, Innovation Network Type: Tipsheets & Paper Tools Date: Sep 30, 2013 Point K Pick Be the first to review this resource! Download (316.27 KB) -
Terms, Tips, & Trends: Evaluation Essentials for Nonprofits (Slides) Are you ready to launch an evaluation, but not sure where to start? Wondering how much you should budget for it, or who should be involved? Although 90% of nonprofits are engaged in evaluation, it continues to be one of the most misunderstood and mysterious functions of nonprofit management. In this Evaluation 101-level webinar, Innovation Network's team introduced key evaluation concepts, approaches, and methods.
Author: Johanna Morariu and Ann Emery, Innovation Network Type: Presentation Slides Date: Oct 3, 2013 Point K Pick Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
The 6 D's of Needs Assessments This handy one-page tipsheet outlines the six D's that need to be answered for a successful Needs Assessment:
- Deficit
- Develop
- Describe
- Desires
- Duplication
- Demand
Author: Community Soplutions Type: Tipsheets & Paper Tools Date: Jan 1, 2012 Be the first to review this resource! Download (1.47 MB) -
The Challenge of Assessing Policy and Advocacy Activities The paper is designed to outline an approach to policy change evaluation grounded in the experience of experts and foundation colleagues. (See Appendix A for the research methodology.) This paper first posits three key priorities in evaluating policy change work, drawn from interviews with grantees and staff from The California Endowment on their needs concerning policy change evaluation. It also discusses the challenges inherent in monitoring and assessing these types of grants.
Author: Commissioned by The California Endowment. Researched and Written by Blueprint Research and Design, Inc. Type: Research & Reports Date: Oct 1, 2005 Be the first to review this resource! Download (2.84 MB) -
The Challenge of Assessing Policy and Advocacy Activities Part II After "The Challenge of Assessing Policy and Advocacy Activities" was published, the California Endowment Fund vetted the report findings and determined how to implement its recommendaions by convening a small group of foundation staff, grantees, and evaluators to engage in a series of discussions on the main themes of the report.
Author: Researched and written by Blueprint Research & Design, Inc. Type: Research & Reports Date: Oct 1, 2006 Be the first to review this resource! Download (1.51 MB) -
The Challenge of Assessing Policy and Advocacy Activities: Part II - Moving from Theory to Practice This report synthesizes the results of a series of discussions that were a response to Blueprint's October 2005 report, "The Challenge of Assessing Policy and Advocacy Activities: Strategies for a Prospective Evaluation Approach" (q.v.) The discussions centered on three key themes of the 2005 publication:
- developing a theory of change,
- defining benchmarks and indicators and collecting data, and
- using findings.
This report is organized into two broad sections:
Author: Blueprint Research & Design Type: Research & Reports Date: Oct 1, 2006
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The Challenge of Assessing Policy and Advocacy Activities: Strategies for a Prospective Evaluation Approach This publication begins with an overview of the advocacy evaluation field, noting challenges to evaluating advocacy, the current state of advocacy evaluation, and guiding principles for policy change evaluation. The report goes on to outline a "prospective evaluation approach" which (in contrast to a retrospective approach) allows evaluation to become a management and planning tool. The prospective advocacy evaluation approach involves four steps:
Author: Blueprint Research & Design Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Oct 1, 2006
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The Metrics Café: A Guide to Bring Funders and Grantees to the Table The Metrics Café from MIT's D-Lab offers a user-friendly, light-hearted take on understanding how metrics can be selected by funders and grantees. The guide likens metrics selection to meal formats, offering case examples and tips on when and how to use the four approaches:
Author: Laura Budzyna Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Apr 1, 2017 Point K Pick Be the first to review this resource! Download (395.22 KB) -
The Urban Institute Series on Outcome Management for Nonprofit Organizations The Urban Institute Series on Outcome Management for Nonprofit Organizations contains easy to read, practical guides for looking at outcomes for nonprofit programs. The series includes:
Author: Various Type: Research & Reports Date: Dec 4, 2009 Point K Pick
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The ‘Most Significant Change’ Technique This 104-page guide discusses the "Most Significant Change" ("MSC") technique and its use in advocacy evaluation. The technique involves collecting stories from program participants, reviewing stories and choosing the "most significant," sharing those stories, and discussing their value and impact. The guide states that "When the technique is implemented successfully, whole teams of people begin to focus their attention on program impact." Author: Davies, Rick and Dart, Jess Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Apr 1, 2005 Be the first to review this resource! Download (1.2 MB) -
Three Blind Men and an Elephant: The Power of Faceted Analytical Displays In this paper, the author addersses the insights that emerge when software enables us to view a set of data from several perspectives at the same time. He describes a screen that contains multiple concurrent views of a common data set so that comparisons can be made as a “faceted analytical display.” This approach to information display provides a means to expand analytical reach by viewing data in this way.
Author: Stephen Few Type: Tipsheets & Paper Tools Date: Jan 1, 2007 Be the first to review this resource! Download (1023.41 KB)