How do you manage the costs and resources of your evaluation activities and systems?

When diving into evaluation, start by defining your true north. 1)Process evaluations help you scrutinize your organizational mechanics and practices, ensuring they're in harmony with your objectives. 2) Performance evaluations are your compass—they provide impartial assessments, comparing your current position with your desired destination, and guiding your decisions on resource allocation and strategy adjustments. By setting a clear purpose and scope, you ensure that your evaluation activities are not just motions, but meaningful steps towards impact and progress.

Having worked in the Social Impact space for twenty years, with CEOs, leaders at the United Nations, actors, thought leaders, scientists, community activists, change makers, Presidents of some of the largest NGOs in the world, etc - we always say start with your values. When I say "values" I don't mean what you see on a corporate website. I mean "Universal Values". These are values that benefit you, and everyone else as well. Profit for instance is a value, but it can be used for good or bad (neutral), which means it can leave some people out. When you work in social impact, Universal Values are (for example): Dignity, Love, Compassion, Equity, Courage, Justice, Belonging, etc. These are not neutral values, as they benefit ALL.

I really resonate with Amanda's thoughts here. Multi stakeholder inputs is important, and to capture it we need to consider using alternate methodology like diary study, auto ethnography and photovoice.

This is where surveys are again extremely important. To gather all of the data you can. To see if what you are doing is having the desired impact. Also, critical - involving ALL stakeholders - even those you may not be in full agreement with. We are all stakeholders in the systems of life. Some of us have more power than others. However, in order for lasting, sustainable change we must learn to work with ALL stakeholders. I just completed a documentary film on people directly impacted by the system of mass incarceration. I know that in order for anything to have a LASTING change in this area, the film must cross political divides and bring both political parties together. Otherwise, we will continue to produce only "band-aid" results.

1. Choose the right tools: Consider free or low-cost options like online surveys or focus groups instead of expensive ones when they fit your needs. 2. Think about feasibility: Don't plan data collection methods that require too much time or effort from you or your participants. 3. Focus on quality, not quantity: Collect only the data you truly need to answer your evaluation questions. Avoid gathering unnecessary information.

We have found that most people who work in the space social impact really do want to make a difference. Organizations who are aligned with our values barter with us all of the time and we offer our services at highly reduced rates or free of charge in exchange. It's good to start small. You'll be doing most of the work yourself at first. And that's okay - most of us start out that way. It's important to have a plan of what you need, before approaching anyone for help, especially if you don't have money to pay for their services. For example: This is who we are and we are looking for X, Y, Z, help. And this is what we can offer in return. Be generous with what you can offer, as social impact professionals are bombarded all the time.

I witnessed how building up an in-house system is the least cost-efficient thing you can do as you need research expertise as well as software/data capacity to build up a robust evaluation approach that allows ongoing monitoring & reporting efficiently. A key learning was that it makes sense to contract this expertise and capacity through consulting and software as it is still significantly less expensive than building it up in-house. Also, technology (software generally, large language models specifically) can bring down the cost by automating many of the traditionally time-consuming process steps such as: finding the right (valid, reliable and comparable) metrics, designing surveys, processing, validating and visualizing data, etc.

Time management is one of the most important skills that founders need to learn. Be specific when planning out your evaluation timeline, and note what potential challenges or resources you'll need along the way.

Maintaining evaluations and feedback loops allow founders to improve their business and adjust any areas if needed. You are never too successful to ask for feedback, so make sure to continue this process often, even as your business grows.

Being open to learning from others is the fastest means of improving. Feedback from customers, peers, and more experienced individuals is a great opportunity for more insight on your business and how you can foster growth. It is also an important method for networking and expanding your social community.

For evaluations to be robust and credible, they need a rigorous quality assurance system, echoing a commitment to excellence. Emphasize triangulation, which 1) bolsters the credibility of findings, by incorporating diverse expert perspectives, 2) utilizing multiple theoretical approaches, 3) varying methodologies, and 4) sourcing from different data origins. Assemble diverse teams of subject-matter experts, complemented by external peer reviews, to ensure every phase of the evaluation is thoroughly examined and holds up to the highest standards.