EVIDENCE uses a participatory approach for community based organizations. Unlike traditional program evaluation approaches, which are top-down in nature, participatory evaluation enables agency stakeholders to tailor the evaluation and management support services to meet their unique information needs.

EVIDENCE strives to ensure the time organizations invest fits within their schedule. The time and resources participants need to invest is minimal.

A participatory approach produces benefits to organizations that are often as valuable as the evaluation findings themselves. These benefits include:

Customized for Each Organization

A stakeholder driven approach ensures that evaluations are adapted to the needs of the specific organizations involved. The role of the Stakeholder Committee will vary based on your organizations unique circumstances.

Stakeholder Committee

EVIDENCE’s clients often leverage these Stakeholder Committees in ways that go beyond the scope of the engagement. Some organizations have used the Stakeholder Committee to identify partnership opportunities, while others have utilized specific stakeholders in an advisory capacity.

Learning and Leadership Development

The EVIDENCE engagement process is part of a larger continuous learning cycle. For instance, stakeholders do not simply participate in the evaluation – they learn how evaluation works, what is involved, how data is collected, analysed and interpreted, how recommendations are made and how to translate recommendations into action. Through participation in an evaluation, stakeholders learn evidence-based management decision-making, develop strategic thinking, and leadership.

Win-Win-Win Results

“Win-win-win” refers to the “Win” of the service delivery agencies, the “Win” of Funders, and the “Win” of program clients, which are so often forgotten in evaluations. Stakeholders work collaboratively to achieve shared goals. Program gaps and recommendations are framed in a non-punitive organizational learning approach.

Supports Community Based Non Profits

As a non-profit service designed by and for community-based agencies and their funders, EVIDENCE revenues support this community.

High Utilization

Too many evaluations and consultations become “shelfware”. By contrast, participatory evaluations get used. Participatory evaluations are designed by stakeholders to address their decision-making concerns, and create stakeholder engagement. This ensures that the organization is highly invested and engaged in the evaluation, and that the evaluation findings will be relevant, understandable, and useable. EVIDENCE also works with organizations after the evaluation is complete to help them identify utilization strategies that will translate the evaluation into action.