The reason for a good evaluation
Experts stress that evaluation can:
Improve program design and implementation.It is important to periodically assess and adapt your activities to ensure they are as effective as they can be. Evaluation can help you identify areas for improvement and ultimately help you realize your goals more efficiently. Additionally, when you share your results about what was more and less effective, you help advance environmental education.
Demonstrate program impact.Evaluation enables you to demonstrate your program’s success or progress. The information you collect allows you to better communicate your program's impact to others, which is critical for public relations, staff morale, and attracting and retaining support from current and potential funders.
Improve program design and implementation.It is important to periodically assess and adapt your activities to ensure they are as effective as they can be. Evaluation can help you identify areas for improvement and ultimately help you realize your goals more efficiently. Additionally, when you share your results about what was more and less effective, you help advance environmental education.
Demonstrate program impact.Evaluation enables you to demonstrate your program’s success or progress. The information you collect allows you to better communicate your program's impact to others, which is critical for public relations, staff morale, and attracting and retaining support from current and potential funders.
- it provides the only consolidated source of information showcasing project progress;
- it allows actors to learn from each other’s experiences, building on expertise and knowledge;
- it often generates (written) reports that contribute to transparency and accountability, and allows for lessons to be shared more easily;
- it reveals mistakes and offers paths for learning and improvements;
- it provides a basis for questioning and testing assumptions;
- it provides a means for agencies seeking to learn from their experiences and to incorporate them into policy and practice;
- it provides a way to assess the crucial link between implementers and beneficiaries on the ground and decision-makers;
- it adds to the retention and development of institutional memory;
- it provides a more robust basis for raising funds and influencing policy.