Discuss the Role That Evaluation Might Play in a Nonprofit

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The Answer is Doing good for public good and passion for a cause are not enough in today's nonprofit sector. Tax-paying citizens and legislators seek to maximize public funds. In addition, nonprofit funders--corporate, family, and individual foundations, government agencies, philanthropists, and even small grant-making institutions--have increased their expectations, requiring data on the extent to which the programs they fund work and who they serve. Moreover, nonprofits are regularly pushed to reach new, larger audiences and grow their impact, typically with the same resources. The need for more advanced measurement, outcome reporting, and data-based strategic planning has spurred the growth of professional evaluation in the nonprofit sector. Evaluation, however, is typically viewed as an administrative cost to be minimized in favor of service delivery. Without dedicated support for evaluation, nonprofits often rely on staff who may have limited experience with using data and lack access to technical assistance and resources.
While there is abundant general literature on the topic, there are no integrated guidelines or expectations regulating nonprofit evaluation practices nor meaningful benchmarks to assess the effectiveness of evaluation activities. Insufficient resources and unclear standards have led to variability in the implementation and, consequentially, perceived value of nonprofit evaluation. Without clear objectives for evaluation, shared evaluation questions, and normative expectations for evaluation design, the full utility of this work remains unrealized among sector stakeholders. Applied strategically, evaluation can help an organization progress in its services and programs, administrative infrastructure, and application of data. For a nonprofit to evolve meaningfully and sustainably, evaluation is a necessary tool in the development and oversight of successful programs and the building of functioning, collaborative system partnerships. Nonprofits with the capacity to apply research and evaluation in their strategic planning and decision-making will more successfully adapt to changing political, economic, and community contexts.

Discuss the Role That Evaluation Might Play in a Nonprofit

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