Evaluation
It is important to start thinking right away about how you will measure and evaluate the impact of your project, both for internal and external purposes. You want to be able to answer for yourself and others: How is this project impacting individuals and the community as a whole?
Impact can be measured in many ways and can be adapted for different audiences. For example, you will want to know if you are accomplishing your goals and objectives, neighbors may want to know how many people you are serving, funders may want to know your SROI (social return on investment), while food security organizations may be interested in how much food is being distributed. You want to be purposeful in what you measure and why-- do not track something just for the sake of doing so, as that can waste valuable time. Try to be purposeful and succinct in what you will measure and how.
Impact can be measured in many ways and can be adapted for different audiences. For example, you will want to know if you are accomplishing your goals and objectives, neighbors may want to know how many people you are serving, funders may want to know your SROI (social return on investment), while food security organizations may be interested in how much food is being distributed. You want to be purposeful in what you measure and why-- do not track something just for the sake of doing so, as that can waste valuable time. Try to be purposeful and succinct in what you will measure and how.
Logic Model Framework:
You can use a logic model as a framework to clarify for yourself and communicate to others the relationships between the programming you will offer and how these activities will achieve the results you want while tracking progress along the way. The logic model “summarizes the key elements of your program, reveals the rationale behind your approach, articulates your intended outcomes and how they can be measured, and shows the cause-and-effect relationships between your program and its intended outcomes.” (Learning from Logic Models, 2000)
Logic Models have two major components, programming and outcomes, both of which feed off of each other:
Logic Models have two major components, programming and outcomes, both of which feed off of each other:
To create a logic model, you start by defining your desired results and clarifying the motivating causes and conditions behind the way things are today. Next, you will articulate program strategies, which are your broad approaches to making change, followed by program activities, which are specific services or interventions. This leads you to defining your outcomes-- both performance measures and indicators.
Performance Measures
Your program’s measurable results can be broken down into outputs and outcomes. Outputs are the measurement of effort, such as number of classes or trainings held. Outcomes are the measurement of effect, such as increased consumption of healthy food or reduction in chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes or obesity.
Indicators
Indicators measure impact more broadly beyond your project, taking into account changes your project will help create community-wide. These differ from performance measures in that they require the efforts of more than just your program.
Try filling out the following worksheet, adapted from “Learning from Logic Models,” a Harvard Family Research Project (2000). See Resources for step-by-step guidance, examples of how to create a logic model, and a glossary of terms.
Logic Model Worksheet
Try filling out the following worksheet, adapted from “Learning from Logic Models,” a Harvard Family Research Project (2000). See Resources for step-by-step guidance, examples of how to create a logic model, and a glossary of terms.
Logic Model Worksheet
Continuous Learning Environment
Tracking and evaluating your impact is important for showing stakeholders and funders that your project is achieving success and is worthwhile. More importantly, ongoing measurement and evaluation gives you mechanisms for learning and improvement, giving you a structure to consider what is working, what is not, and how to generate the greatest impact for your stakeholders.