Evaluation Resources

Evaluation is the means to which nonprofits establish accountability to themselves, their clients and the public. Evaluation can be used to measure the impact and cost-effectiveness of an organization’s programs, as well as influence long-term planning, staff development, communications and fund development. In an era of accountability, a non-profit organization must be able to demonstrate to the community and their funders that their programs are making a worthwhile impact on society.

There is a wide variety of evaluation tools and designs that nonprofits can choose from. For example, the outcome measurement approach has been a popular choice for many small and mid-sized organizations because of its accessibility to staff members who may not have extensive evaluation experience.

Links

General Resources

• American Evaluation Association
  A professional association for evaluators; website provides information on conferences, trainings, software, books, and other resources
• Innovation Network
  The Point K Learning Center provides free online planning and evaluation tools for nonprofits, as well as recommended links and resources
• Nonprofit Good Practice Guide: Accountability and Evaluation
  Provides a glossary, links to articles, websites, and other resources
• Social Venture Partners’ Resource Library: Evaluation and Outcomes
  Offers an extensive list of evaluation and outcome resources including links to web sites, a list of evaluation handbooks and a list of foundations that support evaluation research
• The Nonprofit Quarterly
  • The Nonprofit Quarterly. Spring 2006. “Evaluation and its Discontents.”Volume 13, Issue 1.
  • The Nonprofit Quarterly. Fall/Winter 1998. “Exploring Evaluation: What We Measure and Why.” Volume 5, Issue 3.
• W.K. Kellogg Foundation
  The Evaluation Toolkit offers information, advice, resources, and publications for nonprofits, including the Logic Model Development Guide and the Evaluation Handbook

Participatory Evaluation Resources

• Fetterman, David, and Abraham Wandersman, eds. 2004. Empowerment Evaluation Principles in Practice. Guilford Publications.
• Harvard Family Research Project
  “What is participatory evaluation? What are its roots?” - An article from the Harvard Family Research Project’s periodical, The Evaluation Exchange; provides a brief description of participatory evaluation with recommendations for further reading
• Suarez-Balazar, Yolanda, and Gary W. Harper, eds. 2003. Empowerment and Participatory Evaluation of Community Interventions. NY: Haworth Press, Inc.
• Whitmore, Elizabeth. 1999. Understanding and Practicing Participatory Evaluation: New Directions for Evaluation. Jossey-Bass.

Outcome Evaluation Resources

• The United Way of America
  A resource library of outcome evaluation tools, community indicators, reports and publications
• Measuring Program Outcomes: A Practical Approach. 1996.
  A step-by-step guide for nonprofits; includes a glossary, worksheets, models and examples from various agencies
• The Urban Institute
  • Hatry, Harry P. 2007. Performance Measurement and Getting Results, 2nd Edition. Urban Institute Press.
    A guidebook for nonprofit and government agencies with advice, checklists and examples on how to improve program performance through outcome measurement
  • Outcome Indicators Project: A Joint Project of the Urban Institute and the Center for What Works
    Provides examples and charts on how to measure nonprofit performance in 14 specific program areas, as well as a general list of outcome indicators that could be applied to any program; also offers a series on Outcome Management for Nonprofit Organizations that can be downloaded in PDF format and links to other performance measurement resources