This is the third in a series of articles on program evaluation. You will find the others also posted on this site.
At this point in the process, I am assuming that you already have a mission statement and a list of goals and objectives (outcome statements) for your organization in place. If not, please see my article, “Evaluating Your Program - Begin at the Beginning with your Mission Statement, Goals and Objectives.” Have you gotten input on these documents from all of the stakeholders? Have you reached consensus? It is worth the sweat (and perhaps tears) it takes to hammer out a good set of outcome statements. They can save you a lot of work at later stages of this process.
Once all of that is set, we can move on to determining the scope of your evaluation. While the results should, ideally, be useful to all stakeholders, what is the primary reason you are doing this evaluation at this time? Are you trying to demonstrate your overall effectiveness to an accrediting agency or a potential funding source? Are you concerned about the continued need for your program, at least in its current form? Is there a particular component of your program that you suspect is not doing what it is supposed to do? Are you trying to determine if the population you serve is happy with the program? Your answers to these questions will help you determine if you need to do a comprehensive evaluation or one more limited in scope. You may care to do a quick internet search to get more information on summative vs formative evaluations.
If it has been a while since you’ve done any type of evaluation of your program, or if the evaluation is required by some external entity, a comprehensive evaluation may be called for. In this instance, you will be looking to gather information on the primary indicators of your effectiveness. Depending on what your organization does, examples might include: number of clients served, number who have successfully completed your program, skills that were acquired by the end of the program, or how many showed continued success one year after they completed the program.
You might, however, need a selected evaluation; one more limited in scope. Perhaps things generally seem to be going fine, but you have noticed a pattern or trend in one area that you’d like to know more about. This could be particularly helpful in making an informed decision about changing policies or procedures. Or, perhaps there is some component or department within your organization that is doing particularly well and you’d like to know more. Knowing the sources of that success could help others replicate those same strategies elsewhere.
Once you’ve decided on the appropriate scope of your evaluation, take a moment to ask yourself a few pragmatic questions. As you currently envision this evaluation, what information do you need and do you have the means to obtain it? Who needs to be involved in order for you to get the information you seek? Can you count on their cooperation? How much time or how radical a change in their day-to-day activities will be required? Keep things in perspective. You don’t what the process of evaluating your program to strangle whatever good work you program is doing.
If you’re feeling like this article raised more questions than it answered, then I’ve succeeded. The questions raised here are all important up front work that must be done if there is any chance that the results of the evaluation will be useful. You have to know where you are going if you have any hope of arriving at the correct destination. That’s not to say that you’ll always get the answer that you’d hoped for, but at least you won’t end the process feeling like you asked one question, but got an answer to a different one.
As always, these articles are not intended to replace the need for professional consultation, but to enable you to be more aware of the process as you work with your consultant.
Happy Evaluating!
Article Source: Jo-Ellen Asbury
Dr. Asbury is the President of J. Asbury & Associates, a consulting company that specializes in helping non-profit organizations demonstrate their effectiveness. http://www.asburyconsulting.vpweb.com/default.html
