Browse challenge Resources
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Can we obtain the required rigour without randomisation? Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in the international development sector need credible, reliable feedback on whether their interventions are making a meaningful difference but they struggle with how they can practically access it. Impact evaluation is research and, like all credible research, it takes time, resources, and expertise to do well, and – despite being under increasing pressure – most NGOs are not set up to rigorously evaluate the bulk of their work.
Author: Karl Hughes and Claire Hutchings Type: Research & Reports Date: Aug 1, 2011 Be the first to review this resource! Download (347.42 KB) -
Evaluating Complexity: Propositions for Improving Practice Evaluating Complexity: Propositions for Improving Practice asks civil society organizations to challenge the assumptions behind traditional evaluation models as they take steps toward evaluating complex initiatives and initiatives in complex environments.
Author: FSG Type: Research & Reports Date: Nov 17, 2014 Be the first to review this resource! Download (2.85 MB) -
Evaluating Social Justice Advocacy: A Values Based Approach Although social justice is a concept inherent in many advocacy efforts, it often remains unspoken or is
ignored during the evaluation process. In some ways, the use of a social justice lens when evaluating
advocacy should be self-evident. If advocacy efforts aim for social justice outcomes, evaluations should look
for evidence that such outcomes have been achieved. But understanding just what social justice means can
be a challenge, as can knowing how to look for it in the context of complex and often long-term advocacy efforts.Author: Barbara Klugman Type: Research & Reports Date: Aug 1, 2010 Point K Pick Be the first to review this resource! Download (334.73 KB) -
Making an Impact: Impact Measurement among Charities and Social Enterprises in the UK Ten years ago, critics dismissed impact measurement as too difficult, misleading, or simply not important. Today, 75% of UK charities measure some or all of their work, and nearly three-quarters have invested more in measuring results over the last five years. Making an impact offers the first representative picture of the charity sector’s response to the challenge of impact measurement.
NPC surveyed 1,000 charities in the UK with incomes over £10,000 to understand what has changed in charities’ impact measurement practices, the drivers behind measuring impact, and the benefits and challenges that it brings.Author: Eibhlín Ní Ógáin, Tris Lumley, David Pritchard Type: Research & Reports Date: Oct 1, 2012 Be the first to review this resource! Download (726.51 KB) -
Success and Failure in the Evaluation Process What do the terms "success" and "failure" really mean in the philanthropic world? Funders have taken different approaches to learning from initiatives that haven't gone quite as they had hoped. Some funders want to learn from their mistakes, some provide technical assistance to lagging grantees, and some want to focus their light on "bright spots" and grantee successes.
Author: Kat Athanasiades Type: Presentation Slides Date: Mar 1, 2015 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link -
The Challenge of Assessing Policy and Advocacy Activities The paper is designed to outline an approach to policy change evaluation grounded in the experience of experts and foundation colleagues. (See Appendix A for the research methodology.) This paper first posits three key priorities in evaluating policy change work, drawn from interviews with grantees and staff from The California Endowment on their needs concerning policy change evaluation. It also discusses the challenges inherent in monitoring and assessing these types of grants.
Author: Commissioned by The California Endowment. Researched and Written by Blueprint Research and Design, Inc. Type: Research & Reports Date: Oct 1, 2005 Be the first to review this resource! Download (2.84 MB) -
The Challenge of Assessing Policy and Advocacy Activities Part II After "The Challenge of Assessing Policy and Advocacy Activities" was published, the California Endowment Fund vetted the report findings and determined how to implement its recommendaions by convening a small group of foundation staff, grantees, and evaluators to engage in a series of discussions on the main themes of the report.
Author: Researched and written by Blueprint Research & Design, Inc. Type: Research & Reports Date: Oct 1, 2006 Be the first to review this resource! Download (1.51 MB) -
The Challenge of Assessing Policy and Advocacy Activities: Part II - Moving from Theory to Practice This report synthesizes the results of a series of discussions that were a response to Blueprint's October 2005 report, "The Challenge of Assessing Policy and Advocacy Activities: Strategies for a Prospective Evaluation Approach" (q.v.) The discussions centered on three key themes of the 2005 publication:
- developing a theory of change,
- defining benchmarks and indicators and collecting data, and
- using findings.
This report is organized into two broad sections:
Author: Blueprint Research & Design Type: Research & Reports Date: Oct 1, 2006
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The Challenge of Assessing Policy and Advocacy Activities: Strategies for a Prospective Evaluation Approach This publication begins with an overview of the advocacy evaluation field, noting challenges to evaluating advocacy, the current state of advocacy evaluation, and guiding principles for policy change evaluation. The report goes on to outline a "prospective evaluation approach" which (in contrast to a retrospective approach) allows evaluation to become a management and planning tool. The prospective advocacy evaluation approach involves four steps:
Author: Blueprint Research & Design Type: Workbooks & Guides Date: Oct 1, 2006
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The Challenge of Evaluating Complex Interventions: A Framework for Evaluating Media Advocacy This article in Health Education Research presents a framework for evaluating media advocacy. The framework is intended as a planning resource for media advocates, and as an aid to fundraising. The authors suggest a number of possible indicators for media, public opinion, policy, community, and advocacy. Author: Stead, Martine; Hastings, Gerard; and Douglas Eadie Type: Newsletters & Periodicals Date: Jun 1, 2002 Be the first to review this resource! Web Link