Level Best How Small and Grassroots Nonprofits Can Tackle Evaluation and Talk Results

by Festen, Marcia; Philbin, Marianne; Klein, Kim

• ISBN13: 9780787979065
• ISBN10: 0787979066
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-10-20
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass

Summary

Level Best offers guidance that demystifies evaluation and takes into account the unique challenges and realities of grassroots nonprofit organizations. It provides a new framework for thinking about evaluation and tools for measuring and sharing results in ways that are practical, efficient, and meaningful.

Author Biography

Marcia Festen of Marcia K. Festen Associates in Chicago is a consultant to nonprofits and foundations.In addition to conducting evaluations, she develops policy and grantmaking strategies, programs, and initiatives. She was a senior program officer at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and hasover twenty years of experience in the field.

Marianne Philbin is a writer, trainer, and consultant specializing in nonprofit organizational development.She has worked for a wide range of foundations and nonprofit organizations, and has an extensive background in grantmaking, fundraising, and nonprofit management. She is an instructor for the Donors Forum of Chicago and a lecturer at Northwestern University's School of Continuing Studies.

Table of Contents

Figure, Tables, Worksheets, Exhibits, Agendas	xi
Introduction	xiii
How to Use This Book	xiv
Instruction with Samples and Examples	xv
Understanding Evaluation	1	(12)
Evaluation as Power Instead of Pain	3	(2)
What Evaluation Is and What It Is Not	5	(8)
A Simple Evaluation Framework	13	(16)
The Basic Evaluation Framework	13	(5)
Key Concepts: What to Evaluate and How to Get Started	18	(5)
The Rolling Evaluation Method	23	(6)
Planning Your Evaluation	29	(22)
A Quick Review of Basic Organizational Readiness	29	(1)
Definition of an Effective Organization	30	(5)
What You Plan Affects What You Learn	35	(3)
Step by Step: Planning Your Evaluation	38	(6)
Understanding Funders' Needs and Fitting Them into Your Evaluation Plan	44	(1)
Why Setting Goals Makes Evaluation Easier	45	(1)
How You Can Prepare	46	(5)
Asking the Right Questions	51	(22)
Clear Program Goals Guide Evaluation Questions and Choices	51	(4)
What to Evaluate: What You Do Versus What Your Constituents Do	55	(2)
If or Then: Which to Evaluate?	57	(1)
The Relationship Between Evaluating What You Do (Process) and What They Do (Outcome)	58	(1)
Determine the Right Questions	59	(5)
Ask What You Really Want to Know	64	(1)
How Advocacy Organizations Can Approach Evaluation	64	(3)
How to Be Answerable When Advocacy and Organizing Are Your Agenda	67	(2)
Ideas for Measuring Organizing Efforts	69	(4)
Tracking Information	73	(18)
Options for Tracking Information	73	(4)
The Right Goal Statement Helps Determine the Right Things to Track	77	(14)
Learning From and Using the Information	91	(34)
Making Use of Your Information	91	(1)
Organizing Your Information	92	(1)
Drawing Conclusions	92	(5)
Using What You Learn	97	(4)
Sharing Your Evaluation Results with the Outside World	101	(1)
Feeding Results into the Cycle of Planning	102	(1)
Tying Evaluation into Planning	103	(1)
Deciding Where to Begin	103	(1)
Incorporating Evaluation into Your Strategic Planning Process	103	(6)
Resources
Commonly Used Terms and Their Definitions	109	(4)
Types of Evaluation	113	(2)
Sample Completed Evaluation Planning Worksheet	115	(4)
Sample Evaluation Report Outline	119	(2)
Program Evaluation Standards	121	(4)
Acknowledgments	125	(2)
About the Authors	127	(2)
References	129	(2)
Index	131