| Session Title: Evaluations of Community Nonprofits and New Organizations or Developing Programs: Lessons From the Field |
| Skill-Building Workshop 750 to be held in BOWIE A on Saturday, Nov 13, 10:00 AM to 10:45 AM |
| Sponsored by the Independent Consulting TIG and the Non-profit and Foundations Evaluation TIG |
| Presenter(s): |
| Gary Miron, Western Michigan University, gary.miron@wmich.edu |
| Kathryn Wilson, Western Michigan University, kathryn.a.wilson@wmich.edu |
| Michael Kiella, Western Michigan University, mike.kiella@charter.net |
| Abstract: This skill-building session reviews lessons learned from more than 2-dozen program evaluations of community nonprofit organizations and relatively new programs within public sector organizations. Some of the specific topics that will be covered include the following: (1) conducting evaluation when clients and stakeholders have limited understanding of the purpose and process of evaluation; (2) articulating program logic to guide the evaluation; (3) dealing with misleading information from the client; (4) understanding and addressing pressure from organizations to commission evaluations in order to help sell their program and attract grants; (5) creative means to address or compensate for lack of content expertise; (6) measuring impact; (7) designing and conducting evaluation when programs are still evolving or are in the midst of change; and (8) strategies for conducting evaluation on a shoestring budget. |