What can evaluation do for us?

Human service organizations are struggling to meet expectations of accountability, openness, and transparency.

In response to mounting demands and current nonprofit practice, The Panel on the Nonprofit Sector recently recommended strategies for nonprofits to increase their accountability and transparency.

But aren’t making it….

In a 2004 survey[i] of nonprofits, only 46% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed that each department had defined metrics to measure success, and only 48% strongly agreed or agreed that performance metrics were shared with donors and the community.

In the 2004 survey, only 60% of organizations stated that the board of directors had the necessary information to make decisions.

Why?

Evaluation oriented to funders’ needs and used for external agents to make judgments about the agency has contributed to negative perceptions of evaluation.

Evaluation is one tool – one strategy – for nonprofits to use to:

ü enhance accountability

ü improve decision-making

ü generate knowledge about what works, and what doesn’t

ü build support with stakeholders

ü support proposals

A note about terminology….

Evaluation

Feedback

Continuous Quality Improvement

Outcomes evaluation

Performance measurement

Top 7 Benefits of an Evaluation Mindset

1. Enhance the program’s public image. Local agencies using evaluation report that….

“The result of [outcomes] has been included in media presentations in both print and audio. Whenever we do presentations to the public we inform them that we measure what we do and how we do it to ensure effective service.”

“We are now able to prove what we have always said that we do. It's one thing to say that we offer life altering… programs, it's another to actually be able to show or prove the results.”

2. Share your results with board members to keep them focused on the big picture: mission, programs, impact, financial stability. Share them with prospective funders. Share them with volunteers. Share them with community stakeholders.

3. Improve programs. Local agencies measuring report that …

“Specifically, in one program we had to "rethink" the goals of the program and how we measure success. It's led to a better program.”

“Behavior checklist gives participants a sense of achievement or suggests possible goals if [they are] continuing the program.”

4. Build collaborations and partnerships. One agency using evaluation reported…

“[We have] utilized program outcomes measurement as a way of promoting particular programs to funders, educators and partners to bring about awareness of problems plaguing our youth…”

5. Provide direction for staff. One agency using evaluation reported…

“In the …program our treatment plan goals are linked to outcome measures resulting in clear treatment guidelines for therapists.”

6. Get staff excited. Run reports and instantly see the results of your work, without the time-consuming task of tabulating data over and over again. One agency reported…

“Our results give us tangible data to work with, something that our staff is pleased about.”

7. Support strategic planning. Have a consistent source of reliable data for day-to-day decision-making, and long-term planning.

The culture checklist: does your organization value feedback?

Review the checklist below and chart your organization on each item. Use your results to customize strategies that promote feedback.

	Not at all -------------- A great deal
Our organization has an evaluation policy and/or written procedures
Evaluation procedures and results are presented and discussed in board meeting
Evaluation procedures and results are discussed at staff meetings
Evaluation results are shared with funders
Evaluation results are shared with other stakeholders
Evaluation results are included in newsletters, presentations, and other agency materials
Staff is involved in all phases of program evaluation from determining what to measure and how to measure to interpreting results
Staff are on internal evaluation teams
Staff liaison with external evaluators
Decisions are made as a result of what we learn through evaluation
There is a team in place that regularly evaluates programs and projects and makes recommendations
Evaluation results are part of the strategic planning process
Evaluation is linked to service delivery

PART ONE: DEVELOPNG THE ROAD MAP

Implementing an eight-step model to take you where you need to go

ü The fundamental reason most quality initiatives do not work is because of a lack of trust in the culture. Predictability creates trust.

ü A successful change effort requires changing organizational culture. Dedication to mission will be lost if a clear link is not made between the new mindset and mission.

ü A common mistake of failed change efforts is allowing structural obstacles such as human resources and information systems to block the new vision.

Kotter’s eight-step change process to implement both systems and cultural change. The first four steps unfreeze the status quo, steps five through seven change practice, and step eight grounds the change in the culture.