This assignment asks you to plan for and communicate program evaluation. In this 350-500-word evaluation plan, you will describe how you will measure the success of your program. This evaluation plan will be included in your Proposal Narrative.
Background: Your funder will want to know the impact of their financial support. A proposal is similar to a contract in that your organization agrees to provide services in exchange for funding support with the understanding that certain goals will be achieved. The evaluation plan should explain how program goals, objectives, and activities or tasks are linked. You will also need to determine data collection methods and how you will measure change to determine success. You will want to demonstrate that your project will lead to positive, measurable change in your community.
Your evaluation plan should answer the question: how will you know that your objectives were achieved? While some funder’s may have specific guidelines for determining or communicating the evaluation plan, in general you should include the following:
1. State the desired outcome(s) as a program goal.
Example: Increase English literacy levels of adult English as a Second Language Learners.
2. State one or more SMART objectives that link to the implementation activities from your project description.
Example Objective 1: One hundred adult ESL learners will increase their English speaking fluency from “Beginner” to “Proficient” by June 30, 20XX.
Example Objective 2: Fifty adult ESL learners will increase their English reading and writing skills from “Beginner” to “Proficient” by June 30, 20XX.
3. Determine the type of evidence you will need and how you will collect and assess data to report changes to your funder. Indicators of change can be assessed often based on changes in Knowledge, Attitudes, Behavior, and Skills (KABS—see Chapter 7 of Coley and Scheinberg, 2017, p. 57). What evaluation questions will you ask? What data will you need to collect to answer the question(s) (surveys, pre- and post-assessments, interview feedback with participant or providers)? Who will collect the data and when? In the example above, you would collect data on changes in Knowledge and Skills using a pre- and post-test. You may also choose to assess changes in Attitude and/or Behavior to enrich your program evaluation.
4. Determine how you will report program results. What will you do with the data collected? How will it help you make internal decisions as well as report results to external stakeholders (such as the funder, community partners, media)? When will you report back to the funder (quarterly, semiannually)?
