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Evaluation

IESD Meet the Funder Event 2013

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Context Around Evaluation

• Historically we have received a low number of Excellence applications

• Evaluation was seen as a barrier to applying to Excellence Strand

• Under the Innovation and Strategic Development Strands some organisations scored low on evaluation questions

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Evaluation

• We would expect you to conduct an evaluation of your IESD project using the funding you have allocated from within your approved grant

• If you plan your evaluation at the start of the project you can ensure it is built into the planning and delivery of your project

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Benefits of Evaluation

• Evaluation should be seen as a tool to help improve your project.

• It can help you to understand why and how your project is working.

• It enables you to involve stakeholders in giving and collecting feedback.

• It provides evidence to future commissioners about the success of your project

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Monitoring vs. Evaluation

• Evaluation involves an assessment or judgement of your project based on the information you collect about it.

• It focuses on ‘how’ processes or projects work and ‘why’ they work and helps you to understand what worked or did not work and why.

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Monitoring vs. Evaluation 2

• Whilst Monitoring helps you to see whether your aims and objectives are being met, evaluation helps you to understand why and how.

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Who undertakes the evaluation?

• Internal evaluation – which can be carried out by internal staff or volunteers.

• External evaluation - by a university or another vcs etc.

• The advantages of using an external evaluator are that you will have an independent view and that it will not take up staff resource

• Need to subcontract through a competitive tendering process

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Evaluation specification

Needs to include the following:

• Overview of your requirement• Aim of the evaluation and questions to be answered• Background and context to the project• Required methodology or approach• Outputs and deliverables• Timetable• Requirements for dissemination• Available budget (optional)

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What to evaluate

Every evaluation will be looking at something different, so there is no set answer. Examples include:

• The delivery model • Service user outcomes and impacts• Other/wider impacts• Stakeholder involvement• Partnership working• Sustainability• Cost effectiveness or value for money• Good or effective practice

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How to Measure Impact

• Local health data from DH website• Physical health indicators• Lifestyle indicators• Measures of how many falls or hip fractures• Perceptions of health• Perceptions of life satisfaction

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Useful Information

Helpful guidance on Evaluation can be found on the Health and Social Care’s Volunteering Fund website;

www.volunteeringfund.com