- You launch a new website for your organization. How do you know if anyone has seen it, is using the information on it, or if it's effective in gaining new customers?
- You develop a new employee-training program to be used at all your area offices. How do you know if employee performance has improved because of that program, or what employees think of the program?
- You received state funding for your community literacy program. How will you know if the program achieved its goals? How will you account for the program effectiveness to the funders?
The answer to all three of these scenarios is that you don't know unless you evaluate the progress or impact of those programs.
Evaluation judges the merit or worth of something, whether that something is a program, product, process, performance, or policy. Evaluation helps you determine its impact on your organization, the community, and the people involved. Evaluation can guide your strategic planning. Evaluation can save you time and money.
As an organizational leader, consider the following questions:
- In these tough economic times, how can I determine which programs work and which I should consider down-scaling or canceling?
- How do my organization's activities coincide with short, medium, and long-term goals?
- How can I get greater return on investment for the quantity and quality of work that goes into this organization?
- How can I ensure my programs are cost effective?
These questions are just the first step in helping your organization become more effective. To answer these questions, you can seek out information on how to plan, conduct, and analyze evaluations. You can work with an external evaluator, or learn how to develop your organization's capacity for conducting internal evaluations.
Evaluation equals understanding and decision-making power.
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