Measurable outcomes is a phrase we hear a lot in nonprofit management. It comes from the practice of outcomes management or performance management – i.e. “What gets measured gets done” – and gets used a lot in planning, grant writing, and evaluation. We want measurable outcomes because they help us set achievable goals (think SMART
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What is Bennett’s Hierarchy Logic Model?
Bennett’s Hierarchy is a type of logic model tailored for programs that provide information or education. Most of us are familiar with the Kellogg logic model which has buckets for inputs, activities, outputs, short-, medium-, and long-term outcomes. Bennett’s Hierarchy provides more specialized terminology for educational programs. If you’ve ever heard of “KASA,” that’s Bennett’s
Read more »Understanding Your Stakeholders
What do you know about your stakeholders? This workshop will engage participants in discussing how their organizations engage with their broader stakeholder community, why they want to hear from and learn about their stakeholders, and how to develop a plan to gather information that will best help them make decisions or improvements to shape the future of their organizations’ activities.
Read more »Evaluating for Impact
Evaluating your nonprofit’s impact can feel like the last item on a long to-do list. Impact evaluation is an important and rewarding activity, but nonprofits often don’t know where to start. In this one hour presentation, we examine: What is impact evaluation? Why is impact evaluation important? How can we do impact evaluation?
Read more »Big Questions Prevent Big Problems – Effective Survey Design
Surveys are often the first or only evaluation tool used by nonprofits, but poor survey design can produce untrustworthy or irrelevant results. The first step in creating a new survey, or reviewing an old one, is to take a step back and ask four big questions. These questions can prevent big problems down the line. What
Read more »Leading with Theory of Change
A theory of change is a powerful tool that helps an organization articulate the connection between its mission and its programs, using the language of outcomes. In this workshop, we explore what a theory of change is, how an organization can use a theory of change, and the implications of a theory of change for staff and board leadership.
Read more »Effective Survey Design
Surveys are often the first or only evaluation tool used by nonprofits, but poor survey design can produce untrustworthy or irrelevant results. This workshop will introduce participants to the fundamentals of good survey design. Participants will learn strategies to choose, write, and test survey questions that are effective for their audience and evaluation purpose.
Read more »Team-Based Inquiry: Evaluation for the Development and Planning Process
Evaluation is an extremely helpful addition to any strategic, planning, or development process, but it is often left out due to time or money constraints. Not all evaluation processes, however, come at a high cost: Team-Based Inquiry could be a user-friendly way for your team or organization to incorporate evaluation into its development and planning
Read more »Supporting Evaluation: A Guide for the Nonprofit Board of Directors
As leaders in an organization, the board plays an important role in supporting the practice and use of program evaluation. In this article, we discuss the leadership actions that support program evaluation in an organization and how a nonprofit board of directors can contribute. This is the third of three articles on the role of
Read more »Using Program Evaluation: A Guide for the Nonprofit Board of Directors
When engaging with program evaluation, a nonprofit board of directors should not fall into the trap of playing only an oversight role. Board members are highly-skilled volunteers who live half in the organization and half in the community: they add valuable perspective to the results of program evaluation. But, as anyone who has served on
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