Three questions a good program evaluation answers
Most program leaders I talk to do not need convincing that evaluation matters. They need to know what they will actually get for the time and money it takes. A good evaluation answers three questions.
1. Is the program running the way it was designed to?
This is the process question, and it is less obvious than it sounds. Programs drift. Staff change, funding shifts, the community’s needs move. A process evaluation compares what is happening day to day with what was intended, so you can see where the drift helps and where it hurts.
2. What changed for the people you serve?
This is the outcome question. Attendance numbers and satisfaction surveys are inputs, not outcomes. An outcome evaluation looks at what is different for participants: what they know, what they can do, how their situation changed. That is the story your board and your funders actually need.
3. What do the people inside the program see that you cannot?
Participants and front-line staff notice things that never make it into reports. Gathering that participant voice carefully, and reporting it honestly, is often where the most useful findings live. People will tell you what is working if you ask them well.
An evaluation that answers these three questions gives you something better than a thick report: it gives you decisions you can defend.
