Whether it’s by building capacity through the evaluation process or by developing realistic, actionable recommendations, evaluation plays an important part in making a difference on both a small and a grand scale!

Evaluation questions focus data collection. They are what our stakeholders need to answer. When they have the answer to these questions, they can tell their stories. But it can be challenging to write questions at just the right level, that will provide guidance for choosing methods and developing data collection tools, and will actually yield the information to satisfy stakeholders.

So you landed an evaluation contract and the first meeting date is set. Here are some pointers for kicking your evaluation off on the right foot.

Each evaluation is different. You have different stakeholders, different topics, different timelines and different end goals. Some evaluation plans will be simple, and others more complex. When developing your evaluation plan, you can take a mix and match approach to its composition.

Here are some common components of evaluation plans. Your plan might need just a few, or it may need all of them.