Need some help with writing questions for a feedback form? Looking for someone with some survey savvy to answer your data collection questions? Not sure how to sample your participants? Dr. James Peterson, from Western Michigan University's Nonprofit Leadership and Administration faculty, will provide a free skill building workshop to address your data collection questions on Friday, March 12, 8:30-10:30 a.m. at Family & Children Services (1608 Lake Street). Any community nonprofit is welcome to attend this session. Participation will be limited to the first 40 persons who call to reserve a seat. Call Patricia Hamilton at (616) 343-2524.

Yoland Wadsworth has written a down-to-earth, practical guide to evaluation titled Everyday Evaluation On the Run. Copies have been ordered for the GKEP evaluation resource library at the Greater Kalamazoo United Way. The table of contents begins with the following: Warning!! This book contains some unfamiliar and theoretical ideas that may sometimes seem like hard work. Perseverance will be rewarded!" In fact, Wadsworth points out that most evaluation is not unfamiliar. Most of us are standing in it. Whenever we take new actions, make decisions, do things slightly differently, or get creative, we are evaluating past practices and making changes so that we can be more effective. Then we look at what happens as a result, and perhaps make further adaptations…or continue with what we know works.

The question she raises is whether we need to do more evaluating or whether we already know enough to report to those who might have a need to know. By keeping a diary of our observations about how well our actions are working (or not working) and how we can tell, we can communicate to others the changes we are seeing take place in the people with whom we work. By talking one-on-one, the everyday evaluator can arrive at a depth of understanding about participant changes that is simply not possible through the use of ordinary questionnaires. In fact, this understanding can then be used to create questionnaires that are more sensitive to the changes in people brought about by a service or program than could ordinarily be possible.

Not everyone in an organization is the inquiring type. Wadsworth suggests that you think about who are the everyday evaluators in your group:

• Who's good at asking critical questions? (Why are we doing it this way? What about…? Has anybody asked our clients?)
• Who's good at developing hunches? (I think it's because…, There may be a link between… Have you noticed that…?)
• Who's good at observing? (I noticed the other day that…, Did you see how they…?)
• Who's skeptical? (What makes you think that? What if…? Do we really know for sure? Show me.)
• Who's creative and imaginative? (Have you tried…? I have an idea…)
• Who's good at judging which are good ideas? (Here is why I think this idea is best… I don't think it will work because…)

Bring together these everyday evaluators to structure the evaluation of a program or service. They can also engage in an annual assessment; What have we achieved and where do we go from here? Even longer term stocktaking or strategic planning retreats could be organized for these everyday evaluators. Explore the possibilities of everyday evaluation!

Outcome-based evaluation has helped the WMU Center for Developmentally Disabled Adults (CDDA) secure a 3-year, $178,778 grant from the Michigan Developmental Disabilities Council. The grant is to develop an array of community-based, inclusive alternatives for adults with severe disabilites who are now in segregated facilities. Grant funding will also give CDDA the opportunity to develop instruments to evaluate the impact of that shift.

"Best practices say that quality of life is enhanced by the acceptance and full integration of persons into their communities. Our evaluation of this initiative will contribute to the disability movement."

--Carol Sundberg, Executive Director

• Everyone’s  responsibility
• Continually asking good questions, getting answers, and taking action based on those answers
• Integrated into the day-to-day operations of the organization
• A developmental process
• Collaborative and dependent on information sharing
• Time well spent
• Going to ensure the organization’s health and viability in the long run in a changing environment