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Management...
Steps to smart program
evaluation
Program evaluation, the
process of studying the effects of program activity on client
populations, can be helpful to planning because of the wide
variety of information it can
provide.
Although many organizations
speak highly of the need for program evaluation, not all of them
utilize such an approach, especially if they consider themselves
to be in straitened
circumstances.
Program evaluation can be
seen as a form of investment, and, like any investment, requires
care in order to make it as effective as possible. Any
evaluation involves learning, and that can take a great deal of
time. It can be time well spent,
however.
There are benefits to
program evaluation, however, and they can be applied in
different ways.
* Program evaluation results can be used for
program design and management and to inform program manager
performance evaluation. When multiple models are available for
delivering service, program evaluation can help identify those
that are most effective.
* Claims of quality service can be
compelling to funders, clients and community, and program
evaluation can provide valid measures of performance that chan
enhance ability to secure funding, especially in a competitive
environment.
* Inside an organization, the results of
program evaluation can guide resource and allocation by
indicating which programs are showing (or not showing) desired
results.
* Without
program evaluation, program designers and manager are less
informed and therefore potentially less effective.
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2006 The
NonProfit Times. | 
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