This slideshare explains why nonprofit organizations should evaluate their programs. Beyond documenting program outcomes, it argues that program evaluation can and should be a key component of program improvement.

1. Why Evaluate?
Before After
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2. Organizations evaluate in order to find the number.

3. The number of kids who graduate
from high school.

4. The number of people who are able to
get and keep a new job for six months.

5. The number of points by which
students’ math scores rise.

6. The number of points by which a
psychiatric patient’s depression score
decreases.

7. These numbers all describe outcomes.

8. Outcomes are about the results of a program.

9. Outputs are about the steps you
followed to produce those
outcomes.

10. It’s important to understand the difference.

11. But what is the number for?

12. Why do we need to know the number?

13. Well, existing funders want to know if
their investments yielded results.

14. New funders want to invest
in programs that work.

15. Board members, staff, clients and
community stakeholders want to
associate with programs that are
effective.

16. But what really is the number?

17. To be useful, the number has to
represent a comparison against
expectations.

18. Expectations that without the program,
people/ institutions/ communities would
not have changed.

19. Expectations that without the program,
people/ institutions/ communities would
not have changed.
* If you remember back to
your statistics course, this
was called the null
hypothesis.

20. So essentially, we have an experiment.

21. Differences between the number before
the program and the number after the
program have to be due to the
program*.
*All other things being equal

22. That was easy, right?

23. Pretty reasonable, wouldn’t you say?

24. Did you ever sign up for an online service
where you had to check a box indicating
that you had read and agreed to all the fine
print?

25. Did you actually read all the fine print?

26. Neither did we.

27. But in this case you have to.

28. Differences between the number before
the program and the number after the
program have to be due to the
program*.
*All other things being equal

29. But all other things are N E V E R equal.

30. The boys may do better than the girls.

31. Counselors may interpret the
treatment modality differently.

32. Participants with different work
histories may respond differently to
the work readiness program.

33. Looking at the average
change in:
Math Grade
Depression Score
Months on the job
may not be enough.

34. But wait, it gets even worse. 

35. What if the boys do better than the girls
UNLESS the girls are taught by Ms. Smith
in which case they do better?

36. What if more experienced counselors
do better regardless of differences in
treatment modality?

37. What if differences in work histories
are only important for workers
moving from traditional
office work?

38. Organizations that want to improve their
programs need to understand these
differences.

39. Because maybe the girls need more
teachers like Ms. Smith.

40. Because maybe the girls need more
teachers like Ms. Smith.
*Find out what Ms. Smith
does that she’s so
effective with the girls.

41. And only the less experienced
counselors need more training.

42. And only the less experienced
counselors need more training.
* Devote resources to
retraining just the less
experienced counselors.

43. And the workforce readiness program
needs to treat people with experience
doing office work differently than
those who held blue collar jobs.

44. And the workforce readiness program
needs to treat people with experience
doing office work differently than
those who held blue collar jobs.
* Create two different programs,
one for former office workers,
the other for former blue
collar workers.

45. Maybe what this means is that
evaluation is about more than just
the number.

46. Maybe beyond asking
the question “did the
program work” it
should ask:
Where did it work?
For whom?
Under what circumstances?

47. We believe that effective organizations use
evaluation to document positive outcomes….

48. & to inform continuous improvement.

49. If you found this useful, we’d love it if
you would share it with your networks.
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