Is Evaluation Passé?

Alice Walker Quote

So, friend,

Is evaluation passé?

I am seeing more comments online about how logic models are past their prime. I have seen even more comments that evaluation capacity is not needed or worse, is inappropriate or worse yet, harmful.

Let me share why I think such a general statement is incorrect and my guess as to why some people (is that you?) might feel that way.

How do you view evaluation? Do you view it as something you HAVE to do? Or maybe you don’t find it useful. Or maybe it feels like a waste of resources?

Maybe you really dislike Logic Models. You think they are confusing and overly complicated. Maybe you did a Logic Model for that grant proposal and never touched it again.

Maybe you feel the whole evaluation process is a big fat waste of your time. You might think it's a waste of resources that should go to services. Perhaps your evaluation plan is only focused on just counting things. Boring

If you answered yep, that sounds like me, then I suggest that you view evaluation mainly as a compliance exercise. Meaning, you do it because a funder requires it.

This quote from Alice Walker is my North Star of working with my clients.

Look closely at the present you are constructing. It should look like the future you are creating. ---------------Allice Walker

What kind of future is your nonprofit or coalition constructing?

Here is my touchstone question, How do you know if you are making a difference?

Evaluation is interesting, powerful, and impactful when it is focused on evaluative thinking as opposed to compliance.

Evaluative thinking is thinking about what kinds of information we need to learn from and improve what we are doing, so that our communities are BETTER.

            Compliance says we are focused on what the funder tells us we must report so that our nonprofit or coalition meets contractual obligations.

Evaluative thinking is when nonprofit staff and stakeholders come together to understand findings, reflect on lessons learned, and apply that collective knowledge to future decisions.

            Compliance is checking off a report because we are required to submit a mid-term and annual report. We can count things, so we do that. But what we can’t do is measure our outcomes or say whether we are making a difference.

Evaluation is really simple- four easy questions:

·        What did we do?

·        How did we do it?

·        How well did we do it?

·        What is working and not working?

Then Rinse and repeat.

Do these simple my friends and you too can build your evaluation capacity muscle. You will also build your good stewardship muscle. Not to mention the often neglected but important, our community trusts us because we are making a difference muscle.

Want to move from compliance to building that bright future? You know what to do, hit reply.