Good evaluation is good program management. There is no mystique to evaluation, but it requires an organized approach to asking questions and gathering information that requires focus and preparation. Done well and conscientiously, evaluation is not punitive (i.e. proof that you ''didn’t do it right''), but rather, constructive at virtually any point in the project’s life.

Your evaluations are most helpful in our future grantmaking when they document what is happening or has happened in your project and why, and describe the lessons learned in the process of designing and implementing your project. That can have a direct impact on the Foundation’s future grantmaking for similar projects. It also can provide useful information for other organizations attempting to replicate your efforts.

The Foundation has specific evaluation reporting requirements; in fact an organization cannot receive subsequent Foundation funding unless it has submitted the necessary evaluation paperwork.

But these pages also provide evaluation basics that should be useful to any organization for virtually any project.