Evaluation is like that magic skip-ahead card for our clients.
Before becoming an evaluator, I was on staff at various nonprofit and philanthropic organizations. I experienced and saw what many in those fields know too well: packed calendars, overflowing inboxes, and barely any time to pause. It was hard to step back and reflect on lessons to be learned and strategies to change or build on. And writing grant reports and proposals always involved lengthy searches for anything that could be considered evidence of a program’s value to its participants.
Then, I started working in the evaluation field. In an early evaluation project I worked on with a small firm, we were helping a foundation assess its advocacy training program for nonprofit leaders. Our client and the participants knew we had experience in nonprofits and the issue movements the leaders worked in, which helped us establish trust.
We also brought our measurement and evaluation expertise and an outside perspective that enabled us to surface what was working and where there were gaps. Because, even with the best of relationships, program participants have told us they would hesitate to give constructive criticism about a program, not wanting to seem unappreciative of how hard program staff were working.
In the end we handed our client a “skip-ahead” card: clear, honest insight that helped them improve participants’ experiences, communicate their value more powerfully to funders and donors, and get closer to their goals—faster.
Where do you need a skip-ahead card to get you to this quarter?
