Evaluation

Measuring a program's effectiveness is required by most funders. It is also a key strategy for improving your program, keeping it on track, and marketing it to partners and other potential supporters. Clear presentation of your evaluation data and findings to the varied groups your project serves or works with, as well as key stakeholders, will support your justification for sustaining a program or programs.

Designing Evaluations with Sustainability in Mind

Using data to improve your program leads to a program that has better results for your youth and community and a program that the community will want to sustain. Data that show how your program has created positive change for your youth and community can be used to market your program to potential funders and justify why your program needs to be sustained.

Example: Plan for the collection of data with which you expect your program to have the greatest impact and that your community is most concerned about. For example, if your program is intended to impact the number of youth who abuse alcohol and this is a big concern of your community, you will want to be sure to measure current youth alcohol use prior to implementing your program and at regular intervals after you have implemented your program. These data can then be used to demonstrate a drop in current alcohol use and why your program needs to be sustained.

Program Evaluation 101, 102, and 201 (Online Course)
http://pathwayscourses.samhsa.gov/courses.htm#eval101

Evaluation's Role in Supporting Initiative Sustainability
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/content/pubs/onlinepubs/sustainability/sustainability.pdf

Evaluation (Toolkit)
http://cyfernet.ces.ncsu.edu/cyfres/browse_2.php?search=Evaluation

Getting to Outcomes: Promoting Accountability through Methods and Tools for Planning, Implementing, and Evaluation
http://www.stanford.edu/~davidf/GTO_Volume_I.pdf

Sustaining Interventions in Community Systems: On the relationship between researchers and communities. Altman, D.G. (1995) Health Psychology, 14 (6), 526-536 (Abstract)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8565927&dopt=Abstract

Using Evaluation for Decision Making

Data that has been collected for program improvement can lead to changes that produce better outcomes for your program which in turn can lead to a program that your community will fight to sustain. Focus groups, interviews, and surveys are all means to assess the areas that participants feel need improvement. This information can then be used to improve and enhance your program.

Example: Program participants may find that the location is difficult to get to and doesn't allow for a sense of security. This information can then be used to change your program location to make it more central and design it in a way to foster a sense of safety and security. These changes will likely lead to greater program participation and greater personal impact due to the improved environment. The more positive impact your program has, the greater the likelihood that your community will fight to sustain it.

Using Evaluation Data to Manage, Improve, Market, and Sustain Children's Services (Report) http://cecp.air.org/promisingpractices/2000monographs/documents2000.htm#2

Measuring and Using Results (Website) http://www.financeproject.org/irc_pubs.cfm?p=25&id=61

Getting to Outcomes: Promoting Accountability through Methods and Tools for Planning, Implementing, and Evaluation (Report/Manual)
http://www.stanford.edu/~davidf/GTO_Volume_I.pdf

Packaging Your Data for Sustainability

Data that demonstrate positive program outcomes are immensely valuable for marketing your program and helping you make a case for why your program should continue. However, data need to be packaged in a way that make them accessible to your target audiences. When supplying data for a community newsletter or website, stating changes in layman terms will be more helpful in explaining the impact that your program had.

Example: An evaluation report may state that there was a significant decrease in 30 day alcohol use in youth from year 1 to year 3 (58% to 29%), p<.001, but in order to demonstrate the significance of your data to community members and why it should be sustained, it would be beneficial to restate the finding as the program was successful at reducing alcohol use by 50% or cutting the number of youth who use alcohol in half over a 2 year period. Understanding which findings are the most significant and how to state them in a way that is easily interpreted (e.g., through a chart or graph or through recalculating raw numbers to percentages) will help to communicate the impact of your program to potential advocates and funders and why it should be sustained.

Using Evaluation Data to Manage, Improve, Market, and Sustain Children's Services (Report) http://cecp.air.org/promisingpractices/2000monographs/documents2000.htm#2

Getting to Outcomes: Promoting Accountability through Methods and Tools for Planning, Implementing, and Evaluation (Report/Manual)
http://www.stanford.edu/~davidf/GTO_Volume_I.pdf