Impact measurement and evaluation
Tools to help evaluate, monitor and measure your project's outcomes
MBF run a one day training course to help organisations to develop their monitoring and evaluation practices. Further details can be found within national training programme.
Mentoring: A guide to effective evaluation (MBF) - this guide provides support for individuals and organisations wishing to improve mentoring practice and to gain better outcomes for mentees and mentors. It offers advice that can be applied in a variety of mentoring contexts. £3 MBF member; £6 non member or free to download.
Impact Measurement Pilot Peer Mentoring Report 2005-2006 (MBF) - a report of the piloted model of impact measurement in peer mentoring in 2005 that assists the development of outcomes for students and supports individual evaluation. Free to download.
NCVO - Outcomes and impact measurement information, guide to resources.
The SOUL Record (East Mentoring Forum) - a toolkit developed by City College, Norwich for measuring soft outcomes from personal interventions and is effective for most mentoring.
The Evaluation Tool Kit (Befriending Network Scotland) - befriending projects now have a resource to help them in establishing evaluation systems that will help them to show the impact of befriending. Free to download.
Volunteering Impact Assessment Toolkit (Volunteering England) - will enable organisations to assess the impact of volunteering on all key stakeholders - the volunteers, organisation, beneficiaries and the broader community. £30 VE member; £35 non member.
An Overview of Evaluation Methods (Evaluation Trust) - this guide looks at different ways of conducting evaluation and gives guidance about how best to carry out evaluation (case studies, questionnaires, story dialogue). Free to download.
First Steps in Monitoring & Evaluation (Charities Evaluation Service) - developed for small voluntary organisations and those with limited experience of monitoring and evaluation. £6.50 or download for free.
Practical Monitoring and Evaluation (Charities Evaluation Service) - a comprehensive guide to monitoring and evaluation for voluntary and community organisations. £33.50.
Guide to Measuring Soft Outcomes and Distance Travelled (Institute for Employment Studies), 2001, Free.
Soft Outcomes: A Shared Approach (Equal Brighton & Hove) - a guide to show you how to capture the soft outcomes you achieve through your work and to demonstrate them with confidence to your funders.
Managing Outcomes - A guide for homeless organisations (Charities Evaluation Service) - this guide was written for people in the homelessness field and provides examples of identifying outcomes. £10.95 or download for free.
Capturing Confidence - the nature and role of confidence - ways of developing and recording changes in the learning context (NIACE) - a pack containing a summary of research findings as well as advice and guidance on how to capture changes in learners' confidence levels. Developed in response to what teachers felt could be a helpful process in capturing confidence.
Capturing the Evidence - tools and processes for recognising and recording the impact of youth work (National Youth Agency) - the techniques presented in this toolkit aim to support youth workers in recognising and recording what young people gain from youth work involvement. Evidence can then be captured on the difference youth work makes to young people's lives. £13.50
The Rickter Scale (The Rickter Company) - a unique motivational assessment and evaluation package, which incorporates 'The Rickter Guidance Model'. This offers an integrated approach to working with a wide range of clients.
Performance Assessment tool: RAT (Rocket Science)
Also available - Bid Assessment and Partnership Assessment tools.
Spirit Level (Fairbridge) - a useful and reliable tool that measures and assesses quality of life across a broad range of users, thus enabling soft outcome or distance travelled to be successfully monitored.
Substance - a comprehensive monitoring, evaluation and reporting framework which is available to sports policy programmes and individual projects working in the fields of youth and social development.
Mentoring: A guide to effective evaluation (MBF) - this guide provides support for individuals and organisations wishing to improve mentoring practice and to gain better outcomes for mentees and mentors. It offers advice that can be applied in a variety of mentoring contexts. £3 MBF member; £6 non member or free to download.
Impact Measurement Pilot Peer Mentoring Report 2005-2006 (MBF) - a report of the piloted model of impact measurement in peer mentoring in 2005 that assists the development of outcomes for students and supports individual evaluation. Free to download.
NCVO - Outcomes and impact measurement information, guide to resources.
The SOUL Record (East Mentoring Forum) - a toolkit developed by City College, Norwich for measuring soft outcomes from personal interventions and is effective for most mentoring.
The Evaluation Tool Kit (Befriending Network Scotland) - befriending projects now have a resource to help them in establishing evaluation systems that will help them to show the impact of befriending. Free to download.
Volunteering Impact Assessment Toolkit (Volunteering England) - will enable organisations to assess the impact of volunteering on all key stakeholders - the volunteers, organisation, beneficiaries and the broader community. £30 VE member; £35 non member.
An Overview of Evaluation Methods (Evaluation Trust) - this guide looks at different ways of conducting evaluation and gives guidance about how best to carry out evaluation (case studies, questionnaires, story dialogue). Free to download.
First Steps in Monitoring & Evaluation (Charities Evaluation Service) - developed for small voluntary organisations and those with limited experience of monitoring and evaluation. £6.50 or download for free.
Practical Monitoring and Evaluation (Charities Evaluation Service) - a comprehensive guide to monitoring and evaluation for voluntary and community organisations. £33.50.
Guide to Measuring Soft Outcomes and Distance Travelled (Institute for Employment Studies), 2001, Free.
Soft Outcomes: A Shared Approach (Equal Brighton & Hove) - a guide to show you how to capture the soft outcomes you achieve through your work and to demonstrate them with confidence to your funders.
Managing Outcomes - A guide for homeless organisations (Charities Evaluation Service) - this guide was written for people in the homelessness field and provides examples of identifying outcomes. £10.95 or download for free.
Capturing Confidence - the nature and role of confidence - ways of developing and recording changes in the learning context (NIACE) - a pack containing a summary of research findings as well as advice and guidance on how to capture changes in learners' confidence levels. Developed in response to what teachers felt could be a helpful process in capturing confidence.
Capturing the Evidence - tools and processes for recognising and recording the impact of youth work (National Youth Agency) - the techniques presented in this toolkit aim to support youth workers in recognising and recording what young people gain from youth work involvement. Evidence can then be captured on the difference youth work makes to young people's lives. £13.50
The Rickter Scale (The Rickter Company) - a unique motivational assessment and evaluation package, which incorporates 'The Rickter Guidance Model'. This offers an integrated approach to working with a wide range of clients.
Performance Assessment tool: RAT (Rocket Science)
Also available - Bid Assessment and Partnership Assessment tools.
Spirit Level (Fairbridge) - a useful and reliable tool that measures and assesses quality of life across a broad range of users, thus enabling soft outcome or distance travelled to be successfully monitored.
Substance - a comprehensive monitoring, evaluation and reporting framework which is available to sports policy programmes and individual projects working in the fields of youth and social development.
USA resources
This free resource covers all aspects of determining the measurable outcomes, collecting and analyzing the data, and using the results in a program's marketing efforts.
Outcome-Based Evaluation: A Training Toolkit for Programs of Faith
A comprehensive, step-by-step tutorial originally developed for faith-based services that guides program directors through a logical process of identifying goals, establishing measurement indicators and collecting data to determine how successful the program was in achieving its targets.
The Program Manager's Guide to Evaluation
Looks at what it is, how to understand it and how to do it. Aimed at evaluating programs that offer services to children and families.
W. K. Kellogg Foundation Evaluation Handbook
Aimed primarily at project directors who have direct responsibility for the ongoing evaluation of W. K. Kellogg Foundation funded projects but it can easily be adapted for use in other settings.
Planning and Evaluation Resource Center (PERC)
Serves as an online clearinghouse of evaluation and planning tools designed for and by youth development practitioners.
Outcome Evaluation: A How-To Guide
From CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), this guide was originally developed by Citizens for Missouri's Children with social service agencies in mind. Should be helpful for mentoring programs that are in the first stages of identifying measurable outcomes.
Getting to Outcomes 2004: Promoting Accountability Through Methods and Tools for Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation
A guide, originally designed for substance abuse prevention programs, offers a number of useful methods, tools and worksheets for you to use or modify.
Project STAR
Provides training and technical assistance to CNS programs on evaluation issues. Any youth service agency can benefit from looking at their sections on objectives and evaluation plans. The site offers sample plans and a detailed toolkit: performance measurement terms, logic models, indicators, data collection instruments, reporting methods and the elements of an evaluation plan.
Basic Guide to Program Evaluation
This comprehensive guide looks at all aspects of program evaluation for nonprofits, from different models and strategies to analysing and reporting the findings.
User-Friendly Handbook for Mixed Method Evaluations (National Science Foundation)
A detailed guide, offering something for even the most experienced evaluators. Chapters include the evaluation of a hypothetical project and an overview of common qualitative methods and data analysis techniques.
