Evaluation: what can we learn from academics?

This week I am delighted to welcome back guest blogger Jane Selman ...
I have been working for the last 18 months with the Director of a children’s charity in the Midlands, with an annual turnover circa £700k.  They do great work and the Director really understands fundraising and I love working with them.

Last year we were looking at evaluation and precisely what the charity needed to evaluate in relation to a specific project we sought funds for.   It led to an interesting internal discussion involving staff, some beneficiaries and trustees.

I came to realise that the collective understanding of evaluation within this charity, was informed solely by the need to please funders; measure quantitative data, the progress towards outcomes and to seek qualitative feedback. All very essential evidence of course, but I felt they were missing a point and the charity could get greater benefit out of evaluation

 I began to look at how university academics practised evaluation and in particular how those concerned with social welfare projects understood and carried it out.

 So more reading and talking followed, which was ultimately very enlightening and useful.  In essence, what we found out about evaluation, was that it could be more robust and more comprehensive than I and the Director had previously asserted in funding bids.

 We spent a few hours thinking and talking about ways of applying aspects of this academic evaluation of social welfare projects, to the work we were seeking funding for.  We then consulted partners, funders, staff and former service users.  Mainly asking each: “what is it you would want to know of our work?” and, “what would you do with that knowledge?”

The resulting two changes we made were:

1. Identifying, prior to the start of the project, what questions we would be asking at the evaluation stage.
2. Identifying who would use the evaluation; what did they want to know; and how would they use the results.

The result was a model that is both practical and realistic. By taking a wider perspective, our new evaluation model appears to have galvanised greater understanding of the complexity of the work and commitment to the charity, amongst delivery partners, funders, trustees and mentors to client group.

I know what I have said is not rocket science.  But we are so busy delivering the work and fundraising, that we loose sight of maybe spending some time on thinking what we can learn from practitioners in other sectors.

Jane Selman: http://www.janeselmanfundraising.co.uk

Emma Beeston Consultancy advises funders and philanthropists on giving strategies and processes; selecting causes and charities; assessments and impact monitoring. Services for charities include external perception reviews; bid reviews; training for fundraisers and non-fundraisers involved in bids. E:ms.e.beeston@gmail.com; T: emmabeeston01