This is the 4th in a series of posts were we explore one of 5 Evaluative Practices that if adopted put you on the path to being evaluative. The last post highlighted how important it is to Differentiate What You Know from the Difference You Make and how that can open up a set of possibilities. Core to that post are the following:

• Getting clear about why you do what you do and the “to what end” is a new muscle in the non-profit sector which needs exercise.
• Once an organization gets clear, it can be a transformative event that opens up possibilities, focuses efforts and strengthens evaluation efforts

The next critical practice is to “leverage and link your efforts.” Important in both small and large organizations. For large organizations, because it is easy for the pieces and programs to get away from the core purpose and intended impact of your org. For small organizations because there is very little cushion and thus everything you do must matter. This includes not just thinking about efforts internal to your organization but also how you relate to others whose work supports and compliments your own.

In our own practice, we love this part of the process which often is iterative with Practice 2 (Differentiate What you Do with The Difference You Make). If we are doing program /initiative level work, it starts as simply with a group of staff people each armed with a set of color coded large post-its (one color each for outcomes and activities) and a blank wall. Participants are given the opportunity to brainstorm outcomes and activities which lead to them. We then move the pieces around the wall, the dialogue begins and the opportunity for clarity and alignment happen through exploration of the following questions: What leads to what? What is missing? Is that the right outcome? What can we really accomplish? What else do we need to do to reach the outcome? Can we do it? Should someone else? How do we connect?

For more complex endeavors, conceptual models such as network analysis and system mapping can be helpful. And logic models and theories of change are additional tools to assist you in making connections and getting clarity on how the pieces work in service of each other and where your organization fits in the larger environmental context.

None of our work happens in a vacuum, and for us to have true impact as well as understand the degree of impact we CAN have, it’s important to contextualize, be explicit about intention, and develop and implement programs/projects/efforts which have the greatest likihood of success. All of which move you along the path to being evaluative.

What tools have been most helpful to you? What have been the results of leveraging and linking your efforts in your organization?

“Gone are the days when corporate donors wrote checks for the ‘nice’ programs or the ‘cute’ girls,” according to the CEO and chief fundraiser for Girls Inc. of the Capital Region.Donors ask for financials and business plans, and “they want to know how you’re changing the communities in which you exist.“ Rick Cohen, NonProfit Quarterly. August 27, 2010; Source: The Business Review |

This is the 3^rd in a series of posts were we explore one of 5 Evaluative Practices, that if adopted put you on the path to being evaluative. The last post highlighted how important it is to Know Thyself as one embarks on this journey. Core to that post are the following:

• Being clear about the degree to which you are comfortable with and able to test your assumptions about why you do the work and the change you seek as a result of your efforts
• Clarity on intent and what can be accomplished opens you up to what you need to do to make that happened and not want you hope will happen.

The next critical practice is to “not confuse what you do with the difference you make.”  There isn’t a single organization with which we have worked regardless of size, type or focus that cannot in a blink of the eye provide a list of all the things they do.  They can talk about the activities, the work they do, who they serve/support/target…etc.  It’s often amazing the depth and breadth of knowledge they have about the work. And yet, often when asked, “Why? What difference does it make? Or even more directly, what is the impact that is intended?”  There is silence. And when that question is posed again, the response is often a restatement of the activities/strategies.

Why does it matter? And why is it so hard to do this?

Well it matters if you want to evaluate your efforts.  Evaluation is the process of determining the merit, worth and value of things. To successfully design an evaluation framework and implement an evaluation plan, it is important that the intention of said work (expressed through outcomes and objectives) is clear so one can determine progress towards a stated aim.

And the response to why it is so hard is a complex one.  It could be that mission and vision statements which are often used as the default guiding star for non profits are so broad, they don’t support saying no and focusing efforts towards a single end point. Or it could be that being clear about outcomes/objectives is a new muscle that has only been in practice for 5—7 years (10 at the most).

Regardless of the why, when it does happen, it is a transformative moment. Following are a few examples:

• Bay Area arts organization – After engaging in strategic framework process (theory of change + decision screen) –they re-framed themselves as being an agent of social change that uses art as a tool for dialogue, healing and identifying solutions.
• Oakland youth organization – No longer focused on describing the issue, they are now better able to state (and work towards) a specific outcome within that environmental context. They can also stick to an evaluation plan.
• South Bay community center – By being more explicit about the why and the to what end (outcomes), they are now less likely to stray in to the land of “good work” but stay focused on the “right work”.
• Foundation – By developing a theory of change for its own initiatives, it seeks partner organizations that are not only aligned through values but whose work supports progress towards foundation outcomes.  It also made the reporting and evaluation efforts easier and more meaningful.

Share your stories about your efforts to get clear.

• We are excited to start a strategic planning project with MOCHA.
• Jara is facilitatng Northern California Grantmaker’s New Grantmaker Institute
• Jill continues to work closely with the School Readiness Coordinators of First 5 Marin’s School Readiness Initative building their evaluative capacity
• Nicole is leading an Evaluation of the Horizon Foundation POCIBLE program
• We contine to support strategy formation and planning efforts of East Bay Community Foundation, First 5 Marin and RYSE Youth Center