| Session Title: Assessing Evaluation Capacity: Using the Evaluation Capacity Diagnostic Tool |
| Demonstration Session 217 to be held in TRAVIS C on Thursday, Nov 11, 9:15 AM to 10:45 AM |
| Sponsored by the Organizational Learning and Evaluation Capacity Building TIG |
| Presenter(s): |
| Lande Ajose, BTW Informing Cchange, lajose@informingchange.com |
| Kristi Kimball, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, kkimball@hewlett.org |
| Abstract: This workshop will help evaluators determine a nonprofit’s readiness for evaluation. After presenting several stories of working with nonprofits with vastly different capacities, this session will share how to use the recently developed Evaluation Capacity Diagnostic Tool. Intended for nonprofits, this tool is designed to help organizations assess their readiness to take on many types of evaluation activities. It captures information on organizational context and the evaluation experience of staff, and can be used in various ways. The tool can pinpoint particularly strong areas of capacity as well as areas for improvement, and can calibrate changes over time in an organization’s evaluation capacity. In addition, this diagnostic can encourage staff to brainstorm about how their organization can enhance evaluation capacity by building on existing evaluation experience and skills. Finally, the tool can serve as a precursor to evaluation activities with an external evaluation consultant. This workshop is designed as a practicum that builds on the conference session Measuring the Immeasurable: Lessons for Building Grantee Capacity to Evaluate Hard-To-Assess Efforts. |