Do’s: Don’ts: Practitioner perspective: “We realized that to be able to monitor and evaluate people’s level of commitment, and their change in commitment over time, we needed to decipher the different levels at which people can engage with our work. The exercise began with determining our audience, the actions they Read more…
Do’s: Don’ts: Practitioners’ perspectives: “In 2011, we received funding for a two-year project to engage youth on issues related to gender as well as to train volunteers as peer educators. One of the first steps that we undertook was to meet with an external evaluator to develop a comprehensive evaluation Read more…
Do’s: Don’ts: Practitioner’s perspectives: “There is pressure to have quantitative results and quantitative indicators, such as number of pamphlets that we handed out or the number of participants that came to the workshop, as these things are easy and cheap to count. There are definitely funders who want to take Read more…
The organizational context within which monitoring and evaluation for public engagement are conducted has an impact on the evaluation process and outcomes. Evaluation is valuable not only as a tool for responding to funders (i.e. funder-directed or mandated evaluation), but also as a way for the organization to reflect on Read more…
Do’s: Don’ts: Practitioners’ perspectives: “I have been involved in evaluations with budgets ranging from under $1,000 to the hundreds of thousands. An evaluation with a smaller budget is not necessarily less valuable, but it does often require organizations to be very focused and specific about what they want to measure Read more…
Organisations should have a clear understanding of why they are conducting evaluations. The question of why should be asked particularly in the planning stages of your public engagement campaign. Ask yourself: What do you hope to learn from the evaluation? How you will use the information? Keep in mind the Read more…
“Public engagement activities often include events or one-time workshops with Canadians. How can we evaluate the impacts of these smaller engagements and ensure that they are contributing to our vision? Placing these activities in the context of an explicit and thoughtful theory of change illuminates their role in the profound Read more…
Do’s: Don’ts: Practitioner’s perspectives: “In 2012, my organization went through a process of determining how we believe change happens. This process involved gathering input from the majority of our staff over several months. With the help of outside consultants we mapped out the conditions we need to reach, the actions Read more…