Category: Evaluation

Selecting an appropriate evaluator can make or break the quality, value and usefulness of evaluation projects. Therefore it is critical to reflect on how to best select one of these individuals, regardless of whether the evaluator is internal to your organization or an external professional that you will hire. The University of Michigan offers a helpful resource… Read more »

Janet Madsen, Communications Coordinator at Positive Women’s Network (PWN), shares some words about her organization’s evaluation activities: “PWN appreciates the benefits evaluation can provide our organization. Internally, PWN is constantly gathering feedback from our members to learn how to serve them better. Over the last couple of months, we’ve also contracted external evaluators to better… Read more »

We’ve all heard the story: an innovative program was successful but had to stop because major or seed funding was discontinued. However, research in the area of program sustainability has shown that there are concrete steps you can take to increase the longevity of your programs. Learn what factors can increase the sustainability odds of your… Read more »

More and more, people in the homelessness sector are being asked to evaluate their programs and services. The Canadian Homelessness Research Network (CHRN) now has an Online Course in Program Evaluation. This course is designed to be most effective when an organization supports the involvement of a staff team, who will progress through the course… Read more »

Do you want to know if your HIV/AIDS initiatives and programs are working? Are they effective in meeting their goals and objectives? Evaluating community-based programs or initiatives can help us see how we are doing, make sense of it, and make necessary adjustments. It permits feedback to improve effectiveness and encourages accountability. How do we… Read more »

Family Health International has published a useful guidebook that simplifies some of the complexity involved in evaluating HIV/AIDS programs. Evaluating HIV/AIDS Programs: A Handbook for Program Managers and Decision Makers focuses on evaluating programs related to the sexual transmission of HIV. It was developed for the target audience of program managers and decision makers of service delivery… Read more »

Now you can organize all of your program planning and evaluation activities for free online! The Health Communication Unit at the Centre for Health Promotion, University of Toronto has created an Online Health Program Planner (OHPP) that can help you make evidence-informed planning decisions. Highlights include project management tools that can assist you in ironing out… Read more »

Longer, more in-depth virtual professional development opportunties for evaluation are here! The American Evaluation Association is offering a series of Professional Development eStudies on evaluation techniques, strategies and tools. Over the next few months, eStudies will be offered on how to conduct focus groups, effective reporting techniques, and social network analysis. Check out this great professional… Read more »

Are you a non-profit program manager that needs some help with evaluation? Kylie Hutchinson, principal consultant with Community Solutions Program Planning and Evaluation, offers program managers a list of evaluation “do’s” and “don’ts” to follow. Kylie’s evaluation tips are practical and useful, as they are informed by her extensive experience conducting evaluations with non-profit organizations in the… Read more »

Have you been given the task of conducting a program evaluation and don’t know where to start? The Pell Institute has created an Evaluation Toolkit that provides first-timers with the tools and resources needed to evaluate their programs. This toolkit can you help you to design, execute, and utilize a program evaluation from start to finish.

The Colorado Trust also released a follow-up to the first Importance of Culture in Evaluation, looking at Cross-Culturally Competent Evaluation.  This document includes case studies and lessons learned, providing practical application of theories.  Download the full document here.