Evaluation adds value to organizations in many different ways. Through evaluation, organizations can improve their programs, more effectively adapt to changing conditions, gain credibility in the eyes of their partners, and become more successful in obtaining funding. But as a seminal study on the subject observes, for evaluation to be beneficial in these ways, it’s important for organizations to develop the kinds of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that make it possible to think evaluatively, and that allow for the incorporation of evaluation into day-to-day operations. On a practical level, knowing how to conduct quality evaluations means knowing how to:

• Ask the right questions about existing practices
• Determine the appropriate data collection methods and procedures
• Collect reliable, useful data
• Analyze, interpret, and make sense of this data
• Communicate evaluative findings
• Create theories of action

In order to help other organizations successfully embed evaluation into their work in a way that allows them to more effectively reach their own social impact goals, we offer partners a variety of different evaluation capacity building workshops. Our goal with these workshops is to meet our partners where they are, and to build up their internal evaluation capacities in ways that respond to their most immediate needs.

Two of our current partnerships illustrate how we do this by providing training in data collection – a critical part of the process that provides staff an opportunity to directly connect with and listen to their community.

Building Evaluation Capacity with the Clark Art Institute

The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA, recently received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for a new exhibition featuring the work of French painter Guillaume Lethière (click here for a recent review of the exhibition). To evaluate the exhibition’s impacts, the Clark wanted to know how visitors were experiencing Lethière’s work, and about their comprehension of the exhibition's key themes (such as race and colonialism).

Based on these priorities, we developed a survey and conducted an in-person training session for all Clark staff involved in data collection. As staff members had varying degrees of experience with evaluation, the training covered both the basics and more advanced evaluation concepts. We discussed the purpose of doing evaluation in museums, the use of mixed methods, avoiding approach bias to get a representative sample of visitor input, and how to ensure that research meets ethical standards. After the educational part of the training, staff went through the exhibit themselves and took the survey, role playing how they would interact with visitors and trying their hands at data collection. We also spent time troubleshooting together – for example, what to do if someone declined to take the survey. While we initially thought that a digital survey would be easiest for visitors (who could complete it on a tablet provided by the museum), we worked with the Clark to create a paper version of the survey as well, as this was determined to be the preferred option for their visitors.

Having done this survey, the Clark is now better positioned to conduct additional visitor evaluations in the future. They plan to base future surveys on this one, and to conduct these not only in connection with individual exhibitions, but for the institution as a whole.

Building Evaluation Capacity with the Center for Brooklyn History

Having previously worked with the Brooklyn Historical Society on several projects, including the design of the Waterfront exhibit, we also planned to collaborate on an NEH grant called A People’s History of Brooklyn, which was awarded in 2019. However, in 2020, the Brooklyn Historical Society merged with the Brooklyn Public Library, creating a new entity called the Center for Brooklyn History (CBH) at 128 Pierrepont Street (formerly the flagship building of the Brooklyn Historical Society). After CBH took over the NEH grant, they reached out to us with a new set of evaluation questions and priorities. Prior to its merger with the Brooklyn Public Library, the Brooklyn Historical Society had operated primarily through ticketed entry. Now, it is open to the public, and encourages visitors to use its space as they would a library.

In support of this new vision, we laid out several different strategies for capturing meaningful insights from public audiences (while also limiting the burden on CBH staff members). Together, we created two instruments: a virtual survey for the CBH email list, and a questionnaire for visitors to 128 Pierrepont Street. Knowing that CBH staff would not always be available to administer the questionnaire verbally, we also created an option for visitors to share their feedback in writing. At present, we’re continuing to support CBH staff by providing guidance on evaluation best practices related to survey dissemination, onsite data collection, and recommended analytic approaches.

Let’s Put it to Work!

By partnering with us, both the Clark Art Institute and the Center for Brooklyn History were able to take advantage of our evaluation expertise in ways that helped them build internal capacity among staff members. These projects offer a glimpse into one small part of our broader evaluation capacity building efforts, and illustrate one of the ways we involve partners in the work of evaluation. For information on other aspects of our evaluation capacity building work, read about our partnerships with Finca Cantaros and the Santa Cruz Public Libraries. And click the form here to sign up for one of our workshops!

Photo by Scott Graham @ Unsplash