How Should I Plan the Evaluation of My Project?

While evaluation should be tailored to the specific project type, there are some commonalities that can be followed. Set up your evaluation process early so that you know which aspects you will be evaluating and let that provide guidance to the proposal and material preparation.

Evaluation Approaches

Some projects chose to incorporate a two-tiered evaluation approach that proved to be effective (one evaluation at the event and one sometime after the event). It is important to gather evaluative information both qualitative and quantitative from participants upon completion of the project. You can do this either in a paper evaluation, informal interviews, or both. This style typically provides the initial emotional reactions that the participants had regarding the project. It also contains information about what went well and what could be done better in the future.

One area of concern in any evaluation is the rate of return from participants. The recommendation is to have at least a small subcommittee or task group completely dedicated to this area. Their responsibilities include: creating and implementing the evaluation system, following up with participants, correlating and analyzing the date, and presenting the results to the planning committee.

Post-event Evaluation

Several projects lamented the fact that they did not implement an additional post-event evaluation to gather follow-up data. They only implemented an initial on-site evaluation. Post event evaluations can take multiple forms including: a “check-in” sent via e-mail to all participants three days after the event, a Survey Monkey evaluation sent to participants two months later to measure what information had been retained and implemented, and informal phone call interviews of participants to gather anecdotal information.