Browse outcomes Resources
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The Advocacy Strategy Framework This brief offers a simple one-page tool for thinking about the theories of change that underlie public policy advocacy strategies.
It first presents the tool and then offers six questions that advocates, and funders working with advocates, can work through to better articulate their theories of change. The tool—labeled the advocacy strategy framework—has several advantages over more familiar linear box-and-arrow theory-of-change tools:
Author: Julia Coffman and Tanya Beer Type: Research & Reports Date: Mar 1, 2015 Be the first to review this resource! Download (365.89 KB) -
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 Challenge of Evaluating Complex Interventions: A Framework for Evaluating Media Advocacy This article in Health Education Research presents a framework for evaluating media advocacy. The framework is intended as a planning resource for media advocates, and as an aid to fundraising. The authors suggest a number of possible indicators for media, public opinion, policy, community, and advocacy. Author: Stead, Martine; Hastings, Gerard; and Douglas Eadie Type: Newsletters & Periodicals Date: Jun 1, 2002 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
The Community Builder’s Approach to Theory of Change: A Practical Guide to Theory Development The Community Builder’s Approach to Theory of Change is a practical guide about theory of change development, and includes a toolbox of examples. Author: Andrea A. Anderson, Ph.D. Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Jan 1, 2000 Be the first to review this resource! Download (532.38 KB) -
The Dataviz Hall of Fame for Evaluation In this blog post for the American Evaluation Association, Ann Emery shares Hall of Fame-worthy examples of data visualization in the evaluation field. She describes how evaluators are creating innovative, practical, and interactive visualizations; are thinking beyond standard reporting formats; and have capitalized on visual thinking skills. Author: Ann Emery Type: Opinion (blog, editorial) Date: Jun 24, 2013 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
The Evaluation Checklist Project Th site provides Author: The Evaluation Center of Western Michigan University Type: Templates & Samples Date: Jun 30, 2010 Point K Pick
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The Grantmaker’s Role in Theory of Change 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! Download (419.72 KB) -
The Guide to Community Presentive Services The Guide to Community Preventive Services is a free resource to help you choose programs and policies to improve health and prevent disease in your community. Systematic reviews are used to answer these questions:
- Which program and policy interventions have been proven effective?
- Are there effective interventions that are right for my community?
- What might effective interventions cost; what is the likely return on investment?
Author: Office of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services (OSELS) Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Mar 22, 2010 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
The How and Why of Advocacy This publication offers many pieces of advice generally related to advocacy, as well as specifically in regard to how an organization can monitor and evaluate its advocacy work. The Monitoring and Evaluation section walks through key questions:
- Why monitor and evaluate your work?
- What kind of monitoring indicators are there?
- What to evaluate?
- Who defines success?
Author: BOND Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Jan 18, 2008 Be the first to review this resource! Download (203.13 KB) -
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 Program Manager's Guide to Evaluation A guide from the U.S. Administration for Children and Families (ACF) that explains program evaluation -- what it is, how to understand it, and how to do it.
UPDATE: Point K used to include an earlier version of this resource, for which we had a broken link for some time. The current version (with corrected link) is a black-and-white PDF of the 2010 Second Edition.
Author: Administration for Children and Families Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Dec 8, 2010
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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) -
Theory of Change Glossary A theory of change is a document created to communication the strategies, activities, outcomes, and other elements on nonprofit and philanthropic initiatives. Various terms can be used to describe the components of a theory of change. This is one glossary that seeks to define many of the common elements contained within a theory of change.
Author: Community Resource Exchange and Hunter Consulting, LLC Type: Tipsheets & Paper Tools Date: Dec 1, 2012 Be the first to review this resource! Download (187.53 KB) -
Theory of Change: A Practical Tool for Action, Results and Learning Every community needs a roadmap for change. A theory of change (TOC) outlines how to create that change. It is an essential part of a successful community transformation effort. This manual, created for the Casey Foundation's Making Connections initiative, defines theory of change using Casey's impact, influence and leverage platform, and shows community advocates how to create their own TOC by showing the relationships between outcomes, assumptions, strategies and results.
Author: Annie E. Casey Foundation and Organizational Research Services (ORS) Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Jun 4, 2004 Be the first to review this resource! Download (369.64 KB) -
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) -
Tools and Resources for Assessing Social Impact (TRASI) TRASI is a browsable and searchable database of approaches to impact assessment, guidelines for creating and conducting an assessment, and ready-to-use tools for measuring social change.
It features more than 150 assessment tools and resources, community networking services, and informational videos and podcasts.
Author: The Foundation Center Type: Websites & Online Tools Date: Jan 1, 2010 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Top 10 Spreadsheet Secrets from a Nonprofit Data Nerd In 2010, Innovation Network set out to answer a question that was previously unaddressed in the evaluation field-what is the state of nonprofit evaluation practice and capacity?—and initiated the first iteration of the State of Evaluation project. In 2012 we launched the second installment of the State of Evaluation project. This blog post shares highlights from that research. Author: Ann Emery Type: Opinion (blog, editorial) Date: Apr 3, 2013 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Top Ten Highlights from State of Evaluation2012 in the Nonprofit Sector In 2010, Innovation Network set out to answer the question: what is the state of nonprofit evaluation practice and capacity in the U.S.? We began the State of Evaluation project with a nationwide survey of nonprofits. In 2012, we launched the second report of the project. So what’s the state of evaluation among nonprofits? Here are the top ten highlights outlined in this post! Author: Johanna Morariu, Kat Athanasiades, and Ann Emery Type: Opinion (blog, editorial) Date: Nov 20, 2013 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
Transactions Transformations Translations: Metrics That Matter for Building, Scaling, and Funding Social Movements Metrics can help organizations articulate where they are going, what road they are taking, and what they expect to find along the way. They can help groups strike the right balance in the trade-offs above, allocating time and energy to be maximally effective. They can serve as a guide and tool for lifting up lessons for the field and for funders.
Author: Manuel Pastor, Jennifer Ito, Rachel Rosner Type: Research & Reports Date: Oct 1, 2011
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Understanding the Public Policy Landscape: Lessons from a Retrospective Evaluation (Presentation handout) This handout accompanied a presentation at the American Evaluation Association's annual conference in October 2013 in Washington, DC.
Author: Veena Pankaj and Kat Athanasiades, Innovation NetworkType: Tipsheets & Paper Tools Date: Oct 16, 2013 Be the first to review this resource! Download (387.9 KB) -
Understanding the Public Policy Landscape: Lessons from a Retrospective Evaluation (Presentation slides) These slides accompanied a presentation at the American Evaluation Association's annual conference in October 2013 in Washington, DC.
Author: Veena Pankaj and Kat Athanasiades, Innovation NetworkType: Presentation Slides Date: Oct 16, 2013 Be the first to review this resource! Download (1.41 MB) -
Unique Methods in Advocacy Evaluation This brief describes four new methods developed to respond to advocacy’s unique measurement challenges:
- Bellwether Methodology
- Policymaker Ratings
- Intense Period Debriefs
- System Mapping
It was authored by Ehren Reed of Innovation Network and Julia Coffman, an evaluation consultant, with the support of The California Endowment. They first presented this brief at the Advocacy Evaluation Advances convening in Los Angeles, CA in January, 2009.
Author: Coffman, Julia; Reed, Ehren Type: Research & Reports Date: Jan 1, 2009
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USAID Performance Monitoring and Evaluation TIPS TIPS
USAID's Performance Monitoring and Evaluation TIPS provide practical advice and suggestions to USAID managers and partners on issues related to performance monitoring and evaluation. These publications are supplemental references to the Automated Directive Service (ADS) Chapter 203 (pdf, 264kb).
Author: USAID Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Jan 1, 2012 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link