Nonprofit Program Evaluation Made Simple: Get your Data. Show your Impact. Improve your Programs

Details about Nonprofit Program Evaluation Made Simple: Get your Data. Show your Impact. Improve your Programs:

There are many ways to do program evaluation, making it difficult to know how to start. Funders require data to demonstrate impact, which just adds to the stress. Those stressful and overwhelming days are over. This book outlines a clear approach, filled with real world stories as well as examples of evaluation plans, surveys, and reports. I detail exactly how to adopt this simple approach so that you have the data you need to satisfy funder requirements and to make program planning decisions.

Key topics addressed:

* How to plan your program evaluation so you avoid common pitfalls that can be time consuming and expensive

* Understand how to build buy-in for evaluation with your team and how to address staff resistance or fears

* Create measurable outcomes for both grant applications and to guide program improvement

* Develop an impact and/or logic model that visually communicates what your program does and the difference it makes

* Create useful surveys that measure what matters

* Understand the choices in how to manage your data – spreadsheets vs. database solutions

* Create a clear data collection process that is realistic and satisfies everyone’s timeline

* Basic data analysis and reporting to make meaning of your data

* Use data visualization to create compelling reports

BONUS: Every book comes with access to a companion website, which is full of downloadable real-world examples and templates you can use to get started!

This book represents a culture shift from exclusively chasing data to respond to funder requests to using data to learn…this book shows you how to integrate program evaluation into your day-to-day operations in order to improve programs and demonstrate your impact. - Journal of Philanthropy & Marketing, by Dr. David Fetterman, Author, Empowerment Evaluation, President & CEO of Fetterman and Associates

I was looking for an easy to follow textbook for a new undergraduate program evaluation course I’m teaching at the University level. I am confident that this will be the perfect text for my students to learn from along with the real-world information I will provide. Chari provides wonderful resources as a companion to the book. - Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, Shaunette Parker, Ph.D., Clinical Assistant, Professor of Psychology, Lander University

…the author adopts a strong cultural approach to evaluation. It is more a textbook to be used by teachers in master class and by trainers for mid-managers positions in the public and nonprofit sectors.VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, by Andrea Bassi, Associate Professor in General Sociology, Bologna University

In Nonprofit Program Evaluation Made Simple, Chari Smith has produced a summary guide targeting professionals working in nonprofit organizations who are beginning their understanding of what is, and how to undertake, an evaluation. The tone of the book is bright and positive, the author clear, engaging, and professional.The Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation, Lisa O’Reilly MPA CE

This text would be a very useful addition to any nonprofit leader’s library., -Journal of Social Work,Heidi Brocius, Professor, School of Social Work, University of Alaska