Category: evaluations
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Maximizing Insights: Harnessing the Power of Data Collection Systems for Informed Decision-Making
Some of us, like me, love data. We are the quiet ones in the corner, with our tea on a coaster, running numbers all day, and emerge periodically to share our exciting findings, only to crawl back into our dark corners because no one seems to get as excited about data as we do. Data…
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Why Your Evaluation System Has Bias and Why That is Wrong….
When I was doing graduate school back in the dark ages, I remember taking a class called the “History of Methods” and it was an eye opening experience for me. For the first time I got to see how inherently biased traditional research methods could be. Fast forward to today, where we are so much…
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The Operational Evaluation: Expanding Our Definitions of Non-Profit Project Evaluations
Non-Profit project evaluations always seemed to me to be a little like a science fair project. You identify your theory of change or hypothesis, and some variables that you are hoping to impact. You reference some past research. You then identify some biases, discuss your methodology, collect your data, write a report and draw some…
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What is a Systems Evaluation and Why is it Important in the Non-Profit Sector?
Increasingly, we are told we need to design and evaluate things in systems. However, I want to take a step back this week and chat about what a system actually is and why it is important in the nonprofit context. Understanding Systems Evaluation Systems evaluations are particularly relevant in the nonprofit sector. Like putting on…
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The Key Metrics To Should Use for Evaluating Social Enterprises
So you have to evaluate a social enterprise? In many ways these are the same as other projects, but they do have some unqiue considerations that you ought to consider. I remember the first time that I was working with a social enterprise as an evaluator and I wanted to measure the revenue generated–the executive…
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Winning Your Next Grant Application With Numbers…
So there is a new grant coming out and you think your non-profit has a great chance at winning. I want to let you in on a little secret. For years, my team and I wrote grants for non-profits. We got them so much money. Considering it was not the primary focus of our business…
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Why Stopping Your Program Intake May Be The Best Way to Help Others (and your Organization)…
A recent conversation with a nonprofit colleague struck a chord deep inside me. We were talking about a recent program that he had funded by a government agency. He was stating how demand was so over the top that they were nearly doubling the number of individuals they were serving, compared to what the number…