MCN : Info Central

“Mommy! Daddy! Look at me! Look at me!” From the earliest ages, children seek approval of their accomplishments. The same can be said of organizations. Each of us in our own way wants to demonstrate to the world, or at least our own little corner of it, the good work we are accomplishing. Often though, the questions raised, challenges suggested, and barriers placed prevent nonprofits from sharing the incredible positive impact they make on people and society.

Why do nonprofits need to evaluate their programs?

Whether you know it or not, you and your programs are already being evaluated. Public opinion is the strongest evaluator a nonprofit organization faces and could be the only one if the organization does not have data to back up its claims of community value.

Addressing public opinion is only one of many reasons why an organization may want to evaluate its programs. Acquiring and continuing funding are other strong motivators. The greatest reason to evaluate is to learn how to provide the best service to your clients or constituents. Putting an evaluation program into place is the only way an organization can ascertain what is working well and what is cost effective.

What are the standard types and methods of evaluation?

Evaluation can be as complex as the procedures required to get a new drug approved by the FDA or as simple as asking clients if they learned something new from participating in a particular program. It can be done for no discernable cost or be quite expensive. Evaluation can look at hard facts or attempt to discern feelings. Thus no two evaluation methodologies are identical. Yet all evaluation attempts to describe benefits, advantages, problems, or pitfalls of a program, service, product, or organization. The type and method of evaluation used will depend on the questions the organization wishes to answer. Some of the most common evaluation questions are discussed below.

How many products or services were provided?

Here, the organization is simply asking about the quantity of products or services delivered for the benefit of the clients. The relevant measures will vary by organization but could include the number of performances held, food distributed, clients served, tickets sold, and visits made. To provide additional insight, these measures are usually compared to similar data from a different time period or another source (often a competitor). This type of quantitative evaluation shows the capacity of a program or organization to provide a particular service or product.

How efficient is the service and how well is it delivered?

This question assesses the quality or efficiency of a service or product. To measure quality and efficiency, it is necessary to know what the clients, customers, or constituents expect. Therefore, the organization may ask them questions like: How good was the performance? How timely was the delivery of the service? Did the product work appropriately? Is the cost reasonable? Often stated in percentages, these measures provide information about the quality or efficiency of the program as assessed by users; for example, “83% of all program participants indicated ‘good’ or ‘very good’ when asked about the seminar leader’s presentation skills.”

How effective is the program at changing individual lives?

The third question tries to determine the effect of a program or organization on the life of a participant, client, or customer. This information is more difficult to obtain and analyze. Here, helpful questions discern changes in a person’s life, habits, situation, or attitude, and determine benefit to the individual or their family. They attempt to measure these changes at the point of service or over a long period of time.

Does the program impact the community?

This question addresses the ability of a program, service, or organization to change the quality of life for a community, culture, or society. This is usually measured in percentages of a group compared to a greater community. For example, “The program created a reduction of incidence of the disease by 2.5% in the whole population during the last decade.” This is the most difficult and yet the most meaningful type of evaluation. It is often undertaken by government and large foundations.

Why should nonprofits consider hiring a consultant to conduct an evaluation?

As nonprofit staff, it is sometimes difficult to see the real impact of our efforts because we are so close to the services. Because consultants are outside observers, they may be able to ask hard questions and provide an objective viewpoint, which is critical to really understanding what is happening. Additionally, funders often listen more favorably to an unbiased point of view when considering funding decisions. So, regardless of whether the evaluation is being conducted for public relations endeavors, funding requests, reporting requirements, or program improvements, the unbiased external viewpoint a consultant provides can be most beneficial.

What should nonprofit managers look for when hiring an evaluation consultant?

A consultant needs to understand the intricacies of evaluation tools, methodologies, and opportunities. Perhaps more importantly, when hiring an evaluation consultant, a nonprofit manager should ask: “Does the consultant communicate well? Can they work with the staff and board to accomplish any changes indicated by the evaluation?”

A good consultant can teach the organization’s board and staff about the importance of evaluation, help them be proactive in gathering data, and assist them in analyzing the information. Nonprofit managers may want to look for a consultant who can provide a broad spectrum of services from initial consultation to recommendations for improvement, not just the development of data collection processes.

How should nonprofits use the results of an evaluation?

Evaluation is meaningless when it is done simply to fulfill a funding requirement or to satisfy the board of directors. Evaluation is most useful when it begins and ends with your organization’s clients, customers, and constituents in mind. The results of a well-done evaluation challenge an organization to change and continue to evaluate its offerings.

Evaluation can also help inform the organization about where to invest its resources. These improvements can have significant impact on the number of people served or the total resources expended to provide a particular service. A small improvement resulting from evaluation could have a significantly positive impact on your organization’s financial picture.

By evaluating program outcomes, your organization will also find out if it is really accomplishing what it intended to do. Is it possible that your organization is doing something unintended? Is it accomplishing positive results that are not being documented? Does your organization need to change its strategy entirely to really accomplish what it wants? Evaluation can answer these questions and therefore direct program enhancements.

How often should evaluations be conducted?

Ideally, evaluation is continual and ongoing. However, it may be more practical and easier to conduct an evaluation at periodic internals. Often gathering small amounts of data frequently has advantages over collecting large amounts of data just once. The initial questions addressed by the evaluation also impacts frequency.

Choosing to not evaluate a program or service will ultimately serve as its demise. Change is constant in the nonprofit sector. Knowing what changes to make, when, and to what degree will be better informed after evaluation. And, as a result, change resulting from evaluation can only improve a nonprofit organization’s future.

Reid A. Zimmerman has over 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. He is currently the Vice President of Development at the Hazelden Foundation and has previously led a human services organization. He has been on the board of several organizations, including the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and Community Partnership with Youth and Families. Through Zimmerman Consulting, Reid is also a respected and highly rated trainer, seminar leader, consultant, speaker, and facilitator. He specializes in organizational development, strategic planning, and fund raising.