This is our third and final post in a series sharing tips from The IllumiLab team and members of our community of practice for nonprofits that are preparing to hire their first internal evaluator. In our last post, we shared some tips and questions to consider as you decide what type of support your evaluator[…]
This is our second post in our series sharing tips and lessons learned from our IllumiLab team and members of our Community of Practice. In our last post, we encouraged organizations to consider whether their first internal evaluator should be a manager or leader. We also shared a few common scenarios for staffing those roles.[…]
Is your nonprofit planning to create your first internal evaluator? By this we mean a dedicated position to lead or manage evaluation inside your organization. We’ve seen these positions called many things – Outcome Managers, Evaluation Directors and Managers, Managers of Program Performance, Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement, Evaluation and Learning Coordinators, etc. Whatever you[…]
I love surveys. I love designing them and completing them. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve filled out satisfaction and feedback surveys every time I’ve been asked. My love of surveys has won/earned me free meals and theater tickets, and discounts or refunds on all kinds of products and services. I love surveys! I’ve[…]
Last week, guest contributor Megan Ondr-Cooper kicked off this four-part series on performance management by defining what it means to her organization: “the use of data about program operations and participant outcomes to learn, make decisions, and improve.” I (Sarah) am jumping in this week to share what The IllumiLab sees as the unique value[…]
This is my second post in a series about Evaluability Assessment (EA). Last time, I introduced EA and its key components. Much of what we do at The IllumiLab is driven by the same motives and the same processes as Evaluability Assessment, including the articulation and assessment of the program theory. Every program has a[…]
Evaluation Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All I’ve written before about the many types of evaluation and the various kinds of questions it can help answer, many of which aren’t familiar to everyday practitioners. When most folks hear “evaluation” they think someone is asking, “Is your program effective at achieving its outcomes?” Yes, that’s one kind of question that[…]
Every nonprofit leader I know would SAY that they value and support evaluation, but few know how to SHOW it. This is critical to organizational success. Here are 5 tips for leaders.
I got your attention with that title, didn’t I? Am I saying evaluation is a waste of time? Absolutely not. But I am saying that, often, the ways organizations invest their time in evaluation creates a lot of wasted effort and missed opportunities. Do you know a nonprofit that has time, energy, and resources to[…]
What is evaluation, really? Don’t get hung up on jargon, tools, and technology. The heart of evaluation is asking the right questions for the right reasons and answering them in meaningful and useful ways.