Evaluation Planning

Oftentimes, planning gets overlooked, as people focus on the nitty-gritty of data collection or analysis. Without giving enough time to properly plan, resources may be over-utilized or underutilized, the wrong outcomes might be assessed, unfeasible targets set, etc. It is critical to the success of your program or project that you spend enough time on this phase. 

Effective planning involves determining your goals for evaluation, developing a logic model and subsequent evaluation questions, considering the circumstances involved in your scenario, and whether an internal vs. external evaluation is most appropriate. If internal evaluation is the route chosen, you should consider if you need coaching or training in the process to ensure your evaluation is solid. Let us help you think through your evaluation needs and knowledgeably make decisions for moving forward.

Questions you must consider in the planning phase include:

• Is this part of a grant requirement? If so, what are the requirements around reporting, the type of evaluation, and the type of data to report?
• Is this evaluation board mandated? If so, what needs to be done within your organization to ensure that everyone is on board?
• What are the evaluation questions?
• Is your program potentially replicable?
• Is this part of a larger evaluation? If so, is there a certain methodology needed?
• How can you potentially supplement the findings?
• Will the findings potentially affect policies? If yes, who stands to be affected (positively and negatively)?
• Who are those who could be affected by the results of the evaluation?
• How ready is your organization to conduct an evaluation?

Within each of the planning links below, we provide a definitions, how we can help you, and articles and whitepapers that will help you on your journey.