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Thinking

It is important to clearly define why you are doing your evaluation and what you want to end up with at its conclusion. Take the time to think through the first two steps as they will impact on the work you undertake.

Open the Thinking Worksheet (DOC 99 kb) and print or save the document.

Step 1 – Describe your purpose

Evaluations can be carried out for a range of reasons and it is important to be clear about exactly why you are undertaking yours.

Are you interested in the impact of your program (outcome or summative evaluation)?
Do you want to know if it can be improved (performance or formative evaluation)?
Or maybe you want to do a mix of both?
Do you want to evaluate your whole program or only a specific element? Keep in mind that it is better to evaluate part of a program well than the whole program poorly.

In the first column on the worksheet, write down your evaluation purpose/s. Why are you doing this evaluation? What do you want to get out of it? Purposes may include one or more of the following:

To report achievements

To contribute to evidence about what works

To inform strategic planning

To argue for project expansion

To improve project delivery

To analyse funding distribution and impact

To argue for program funding

Step 2 – Identify your end products

The products that you can generate from your evaluation are limited only by your imagination. Be creative.

Recent examples from DPCD include a colour brochure for Men’s Sheds (PDF 1.01MB), a newsletter article for Rural Women, a policy workshop for Caroline Springs (PDF 899KB), and an Achievement Report to Community for the Aboriginal COAG Partnership as well as comprehensive internal reports for program improvement.

In the second column of your table, write down who the evaluation is aimed at. The audience may include:

Program participants

General public

Project team

Stakeholders

Senior management

Funding bodies

Policy & research community

In the third column of your table, write down the best product to reach your audience. Match your product to your purpose and your audience - there is no need to generate a 300 page report if all you require is a short newsletter article or a workshop.

Some products that may help you reach your audience include (though are not limited to):

Program participants - Newsletters, brochures, electronic responses, report cards

General public - Newspaper or magazine articles, postcards, websites

Project team - Workshops, internal reports, performance indicators

Stakeholders - Seminars, reports, DVDs, data summary sheets

Senior management - Recommendations, briefings, presentations

Funding bodies – Formal reports, summary reports, key findings

Policy & research community - Journal articles, online articles, conference presentation

Step 3 – Consider your budget and timeline

In the final rows of your table, insert the overall budget and timeline for your evaluation. This will be developed in more detail later in the process, but it’s a good idea to have these details clear in your mind from the start.

Don’t worry if your budget is not big - there are still activities that can be undertaken - but you will need to carefully consider your product.

If you are at the beginning of your program, it is a good rule of thumb to allocate 10% of your program budget to evaluation, though this will obviously vary from program to program.

By this stage you will have completed the Thinking Worksheet (DOC 99 kb)], establishing the reason for your evaluation, the end product and outlining your budget and timeline. Now complete the Thinking Checklist (DOC 92 kb), before moving on to Planning.

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