Why should you conduct regular evaluations of volunteer programs?

1 Benefits of evaluations

Evaluations can provide many benefits for your volunteer program, such as enhancing accountability and credibility to stakeholders, demonstrating impact and value to the community, learning from successes and failures to inform future plans, improving program design and management through identification of what works, and increasing volunteer satisfaction, retention, and motivation by recognizing their achievements, feedback, and needs. All of these elements will help to ensure the continued success of your volunteer program.

2 Types of evaluations

When evaluating your volunteer program, there are several types to consider depending on your purpose, scope, and resources. Formative evaluations are ongoing and help you monitor implementation and progress, while summative evaluations are final and assess outcomes and impacts. Process evaluations focus on how the program operates, outcome evaluations examine what the program produces, and impact evaluations measure the long-term effects of the program. All these evaluations can help identify challenges or gaps in the program, determine if goals have been achieved, measure outputs and outcomes, and quantify the program's contribution to social change.

3 Steps of evaluations

To conduct a successful evaluation of your volunteer program, you need to define your purpose and questions, plan your design and methods, implement evaluation activities, analyze and interpret data, and communicate and use your results. This includes determining what you want to evaluate and why, the tools and techniques you will use, when and where to conduct your evaluation, how to ensure the quality of data, how to make sense of findings, and how to share results with stakeholders. By following these steps, you can gain valuable insights into your program's performance, outcomes, and impacts that can help you improve your program and inform future actions.

4 Challenges of evaluations

Evaluations of volunteer programs come with their own set of challenges. These can include lack of time, money, and expertise to conduct a comprehensive and rigorous evaluation, as well as lack of data and evidence to measure outcomes and impacts. Additionally, you may face resistance or indifference from stakeholders to participate in your evaluation, as well as difficulty in balancing their expectations and interests. Finally, you may not receive adequate feedback on your results or have the opportunity or willingness to learn from your evaluation.

5 Tips for evaluations

To effectively evaluate volunteer programs, you should involve your stakeholders, especially volunteers, in the process. Ensure they feel valued and appreciated for their contributions. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines quantitative and qualitative data can help you capture the breadth and depth of your program's performance. Additionally, utilizing existing data sources such as reports, surveys, testimonials, and case studies can save time and money. When communicating your evaluation results, use simple language and visuals to illustrate your points. Tailor your messages to the audience. Lastly, use your evaluation results to improve your program and plan your next steps. Celebrate successes and address weaknesses. Share learnings and best practices.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?