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Session Title: Online Evaluation Resources: Knowledge Sharing for the Field
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Panel Session 106 to be held in Mineral Hall Section C on Wednesday, Nov 5, 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM
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Sponsored by the Advocacy and Policy Change TIG
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| Chair(s): |
| Astrid Hendricks Smith,
The California Endowment,
ahendricks@calendow.org
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| Abstract:
This session will highlight three novel online resources designed to facilitate the planning and evaluation of policy change and advocacy efforts. These free or low-cost resources help advocates design an evaluation, assess the effect of their work, and strategically communicate their findings. The three presenters will provide live walkthroughs demonstrating the features and capabilities of each resource.
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Point K Learning Center
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| Johanna Gladfelter,
Innovation Network Inc,
jgladfelter@innonet.org
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Innovation Network's Point K Learning Center (www.innonet.org/pointk) makes advocacy evaluation resources available for free to anyone with internet access. Aimed at evaluation novices and experts alike, our collection offers workbooks, tip sheets, reports, articles, links, and more. We have been particularly focused on offering resources from multiple perspectives--evaluators, advocates, and funders. Innovation Network started putting free advocacy evaluation resources online over two years ago. We began with about forty resources, presented on static HTML pages (users had to scroll through to find what they were looking for). Since then, the number of resources in the system has more than tripled. In February 2008 we moved the resources into a searchable database. New community features mean users can search, rate, comment, email resources to each other, and contribute new resources. We offer our own research and publications, but the bulk of available resources are from the broader advocacy evaluation field.
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Advocacy Capacity Assessment Tool and Advocacy Evaluation Tool
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| Susan Hoechstetter,
Alliance for Justice,
shoech@afj.org
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Alliance for Justice developed advocacy capacity assessment and advocacy evaluation tools that work together (or separately) as a response to funders seeking ways to be 'accountable' for their advocacy grantmaking. The tools are pragmatic and easy to use by grantees that fill them out, as well as funders using them to learn more about their grantees' work. They are based on several concepts key to effective advocacy. Among those concepts are: 1) strong advocates are flexible and often respond to outside controls by amending their strategies and projected outcomes; 2) building an organization's advocacy capacity is key to long-term success and should be planned and evaluated similarly to advocacy campaigns; 3) incremental results, or progress, towards outcomes should be included in the evaluation; and 4) advocacy groups need to consider all four 'Avenues of Change' -- legislative, administrative, judicial, and election related - when developing partners and strategies for their campaigns.
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Advocacy Progress Planner
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| David Devlin-Foltz,
Aspen Institute,
ddf@aspeninstitute.org
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The Advocacy Progress Planner (APP), developed by Continuous Progress Strategic Services, offers a menu of options that advocates or their funders can click through, highlighting their type of policy goal, target audiences, assets, tactics, and benchmarks. Clear, readable definitions pop up as users mouse over their options on the APP's visually inviting pages. Questions prompt users to clarify their strategy and develop meaningful, measurable benchmarks. A notes box on each page permits users to offer specific responses. The finished APP offers a simple logic model that can be printed out or shared electronically with colleagues. Coalition partners, funders, and third-party evaluators can have password-protected access to APPs, permitting lively exchange and consensus-building at the outset of an advocacy effort. Easy online access also facilitates periodic check-ins, evaluation and learning as the advocacy progresses. David will highlight examples drawn from dozens of campaigns already using the tool.
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