The Skillman Foundation encourages grantees to conduct evaluations for program improvement and assessment. Grantees should discuss their evaluation plans with their program officer. A list of excellent web-based evaluation resources is below.

Web resources on evaluation

The Innovation Network is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1992 to share new approaches to program evaluation for nonprofit organizations. It provides free online planning and evaluation tools for nonprofit organizations and foundations. It also offers consulting and training in the uses of evaluation. It has a special interest in compiling information on the evaluation of advocacy efforts by nonprofits. Its Advocacy Evaluation Resource Center contains online reports, white papers, and links to other evaluation websites. It publishes an online newsletter and conducts an ongoing survey of evaluation efforts by non-profit organizations.

The Kellogg Foundation provides online tools and free publications to help programs plan and conduct evaluations. Its Evaluation Handbook gives readers a framework for thinking about evaluation as a relevant and useful program tool. It can be downloaded for free. The Evaluation Toolkit is an online resource based on the Evaluation handbook that guides readers through basic steps in choosing and working with an outside evaluator. The easiest way to find these resources is to go to the website and search for “evaluation.”

The Michigan Association for Evaluation has an evaluator search function and information on evaluation activities.

The United Way of America’s Outcome Measurement Resource Network explains why it is important to measure outcomes and gives guidelines for success in measuring outcomes. It gives examples of outcomes and outcome indicators actually used by different organizations and agencies. It also includes free online tools for outcome measurement development by the United Way and additional links to other resources for program outcome measurement, community-level initiatives, and related topics.

The University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension Program provides free online resources and tools for planning an evaluation, collecting and analyzing information, and presenting results. The Quick Tips section of the web site includes 33 brief papers in plain language that cover these topics. The web site also presents examples of data collection instruments and reports from recent evaluation studies. It includes links to self-directed instruction in designing, conducting, and using evaluation.

Web resources for evaluation of youth programs

Harvard Family Research Project is part of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Its website contains hundreds of summaries and full reports of evaluation studies and other research reports concerning out-of-school tie programs. These reports are easily accessible through the HFPR online Research and Evaluation Database. The website also provides a link for free subscriptions to the Harvard Family Research Project's quarterly Evaluation Exchange, a periodical that discusses innovative methods and approaches to evaluation, emerging trends in evaluation practice, and practical applications of evaluation theory.