Want to know what evaluation looks like in the non-profit sector? Want to know how your peers and colleagues across the nation are tackling the tough questions about their effectiveness and quality? Want to see how your organization’s practices and resources compare?
Innovation Network’s 2016 State of Evaluation report answers those questions and tells the story of evaluation in the nonprofit sector over the past 6 years. Far from a dry research report, SOE uses colorful infographics to highlight trends, illustrate differences, and challenge us all to consider our practices. Check it out!
In my opinion, the most compelling finding in the report is that only 28% of nonprofits have “promising evaluation capacity.” What does that mean? According to Innovation Network, promising evaluation capacity includes a certain organizational culture, some level of internal skill, and a standard practice and system for evaluating regularly. To start our conversation in this series, let’s briefly unpack each of those now, and we’ll take a closer look in the coming weeks’ posts.
Culture
Many organizational leaders mistakenly believe that the way to build evaluation capacity is to invest in collecting mounds of data, buying or building powerful databases, and/or hiring expert external evaluators. Yes, tools, resources, and skills matter, but their value is limited until they are combined with a culture of curiosity, learning, and continuous improvement. Otherwise, your big investments sit on a shelf and are rarely put into action. To check your organization’s cultural pulse, check out the Readiness for Organizational Learning and Effectiveness assessment or the 40 Best Practices of Empowered Enterprises.
Expertise & Capacity
Many nonprofit professionals believe that evaluation is a highly technical endeavor outside the scope of their relatively limited expertise and resources. But, the driving force of evaluation practice – evaluative thinking – is accessible to everyone. Evaluative thinking is a mindset and an approach to your work that is intrinsically motivated, informed by your context and values, and applied to create meaningful learning. Investments in this capacity might earn you the greatest returns. (More on Evaluative Thinking in my next post)
Resources & Tools
If you ask me, the resources most critical to meaningful evaluation are time and intention (more on that in a couple weeks). Other resources abound! You can find some of my favorites here. Some of the most valuable tools are the ones you and your team create: Theories of Change, Logic Models, Evaluation Plans, etc.
Commitment
The last key ingredient of “promising evaluation capacity” identified in the report is a standard – at least annual – practice of evaluation. In other words, an organization must be committed to this work over the long haul. It’s not a one-and-done activity. It’s a way of thinking and operating. Creating repeating processes, carving out regular times for reflection, and constantly improving your evaluation questions and strategies is what makes evaluation come alive and is what propels you toward mission success!
How does your organization stack up? How promising is your evaluation capacity?
Sarah Buek is a nonprofit capacity builder and consultant whose mission is to increase the focus, quality, and effectiveness of nonprofits’ efforts. Click here to learn more about Sarah.