How do you communicate and share your evaluation results with different audiences and stakeholders?

1 Know your purpose and audience

Before you start preparing your evaluation report or presentation, you need to clarify your purpose and audience. Why are you communicating your results? What do you want to achieve? Who are you communicating with? What are their interests, needs, and expectations? How will they use your results? Answering these questions will help you tailor your message, tone, format, and content to your specific context and goals.

2 Choose appropriate methods and tools

Depending on your purpose and audience, you may need to use different methods and tools to communicate and share your evaluation results. For example, you may use a written report, a slide deck, a video, a podcast, a webinar, a poster, a dashboard, or a newsletter. You may also use different channels and platforms, such as email, social media, websites, blogs, or podcasts. Whatever method and tool you choose, make sure it is accessible, engaging, clear, and concise. Use visuals, stories, quotes, and examples to illustrate your points and highlight your key findings and recommendations.

3 Respect ethical principles and standards

When you communicate and share your evaluation results, you have a responsibility to respect the ethical principles and standards of your profession and your community. This means that you should protect the confidentiality and anonymity of your participants, acknowledge the limitations and biases of your data and methods, cite your sources and references, and avoid misrepresenting or exaggerating your results. You should also be transparent about your role, perspective, and interests, and invite feedback and dialogue from your audience and stakeholders.

4 Adapt to different contexts and cultures

Community organizing is a diverse and dynamic field that involves working with different communities, cultures, and contexts. Therefore, you need to be sensitive and adaptable when you communicate and share your evaluation results with different audiences and stakeholders. You need to consider the cultural norms, values, preferences, and expectations of your audience and stakeholders, and adjust your language, style, tone, and format accordingly. You also need to be aware of the power dynamics, relationships, and conflicts that may affect how your results are received and interpreted. You should seek to build trust, respect, and rapport with your audience and stakeholders, and acknowledge their contributions and perspectives.

5 Follow up and follow through

Communicating and sharing your evaluation results is not a one-time event, but an ongoing process that requires follow up and follow through. You need to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of your communication and dissemination strategies, and collect feedback and suggestions from your audience and stakeholders. You also need to follow through on your commitments and recommendations, and report on your actions and progress. You should also maintain communication and collaboration with your audience and stakeholders, and update them on any new developments or changes related to your evaluation results.

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?