Using Evaluation as a Development Tool Anthony J. Alberta, Ph.D. President Sonoran Research Group Phoenix, Arizona

Evaluation 1. Diverts resources from our real work. 2. Increases staff workload. 3. Tells us things we don’t want to know, don’t care about, or nothing at all. 4. Jeopardizes our funding streams.

Evaluation diverts resources from our real work. Increase available resources using effective evaluation activities to demonstrate the value of your services.

Evaluation increases staff workload. Integrate evaluation activities into operating processes.

Evaluation tells us things we don’t want to know, or don’t care about, or nothing at all. What would you like to know? Or all of these things.

Evaluation jeopardizes our funding streams. No one ever lost funding because 2. They engaged in a formal effort to improve the services provided by their organization. 1. They demonstrated that their organization achieved its’ goals in a cost effective manner.

Evaluation A systematic process through which we gather information to either answer or form questions.

What Did We Do? Outcome Evaluation Summative Evaluation Quantitative Evaluation

How Did We Do It? Process Evaluation Formative Evaluation Qualitative Evaluation

Your Research Agenda You already have a research agenda: You provide a service to fill a need in your community, and You believe this service works.

1. We identified hunger as a problem in our community 2. We hypothesized that lack of access to food caused that hunger. 3. We provided food through the Tastes Good Food Bank to alleviate the hunger. Your Research Agenda

In other words, you have developed a research question, used that question to form a hypothesis, and are engaged in testing that hypothesis. Your Research Agenda

We can even state this hypothesis in testable form as a null hypothesis: Providing food to people through the Tastes Good Food Bank will not reduce hunger in our community. Your Research Agenda

Regardless of how we express the question or approach the delivery of the service, we are still distributing food. Your Research Agenda

Additionally, you are already collecting some sort of data. Your Research Agenda

So, what’s the point? Do something with the information you already have! With a little bit of help, or a little bit of thought, you can use this information to demonstrate the value of your service to potential or existing supporters.

So, what’s the point? Last year, the Tastes Good Food Bank provided 400 food boxes to members of our community. Please help us continue to provide this necessary service.

So, what’s the point? Last year, the Tastes Good Food Bank provided 400 food boxes to members of our community of these food boxes went to households that included children under 5 years of age. - 30% of the food boxes went to households that would otherwise not have eaten that day.

So, what’s the point? Please help the Tastes Good Food Bank meet this growing need in our community. - 20% of these food boxes went to households that have not previously sought assistance.

Here’s the point The Tastes Good Food Bank enhanced their appeal by asking clients to answer three questions when they requested assistance: 1.How many people are in your household? 2.Have you been here before? 3.What would you eat tonight if we had not provided a food box?

Here’s the point They can even say that there is evidence that the Good Taste Food Bank reduces hunger in the community it serves – they have tested their hypothesis.

Here’s the point Additionally, based on the finding that half of the food boxes went to households that included at least one child under five, food bank staff worked out an arrangement with a local used book store and began including a children’s book in each box.

Build on what you currently do. Most food banks do not wait until they can provide nutritionally complete food boxes before they provide food. Most ballet companies don’t wait until they can recruit famous Russian prima donnas before they produce Swan Lake.

Build on what you currently do. But most non-profit organizations think they need to wait until they can implement a Solomon 4-group experimental design, complete with ANOVA statistical techniques, before they start their evaluation activities.

Build on what you currently do. Start simply, build your organization’s capacity to conduct evaluation. Seek partners, seek help. Build your data sets. (Use your data longitudinally)

Use your findings externally to demonstrate the value of your organization’s work to supporters and potential supporters. Use your findings internally to enhance the quality of the services you deliver.