It is still too often the case that evaluators write recommendations and then leave them in a report that sits idling away on a server somewhere (let’s get real: no-one prints our reports anymore so the proverbial dust-ridden shelf is a digital myth). It is still too often the case Read more…
Being a consultant is fantastic and frustrating. You get to work with loads of organisations and different teams who are all trying to make the world a better place, and making the world a better place is more important now than ever! But it is also frustrating because you often Read more…
No, this is not another blog post that tells you to read more, take another course, volunteer for a worthy local cause. I bet you have already read a load of posts telling you what this influencer is reading on the beach this summer, or what that business leader thinks Read more…
It is a huge privilege to watch organisations grow and develop, helping them at critical moments to get over obstacles and learn from interventions and past experiences. Some evaluators are content not to engage too deeply with their clients for fear of increasing the bias in their evaluation. There are Read more…
It is easy to think that an evaluation is an all-or-nothing kind of service, that you’re buying in expensive skills and expertise and that it is going to take three to six months of detailed data collection and analysis. Well, yes, evaluation can be that and even more. And sometimes Read more…
Oh no, not another workshop! Is that the response that often greets you when you suggest getting the team together to hammer out an issue or tackle a problem? It doesn’t have to be. Workshops are an integral part of my work and how much of the qualitative data collected Read more…
The last thing that any of us want is a dull evaluation report that sits on a shelf gathering dust. What a complete waste of time and resources that is! To ensure that doesn’t happen make sure that you build in this one thing into your terms of reference: actionable Read more…
Participation is increasingly important. Let me clarify that. Participation in design, development and sometimes implementation of interventions designed to improve a community’s wellbeing is increasingly important. We have seen how the slogans ‘not in my name’ ‘not in our name’ ‘not without me’ ‘not for us without us’ and other Read more…
When I started out in the nonprofit sector evaluators and consultants were aloof, external beings that descended to inform us of how well we were or were not doing; wrote dense impenetrable prose and made pronouncements that could close a project down. Fortunately much has changed! I do still believe Read more…
You might have seen from my social media activity that I participated in the FSI Big Advice Day during Small Charities Week. We also did something similar at our last EUConsult conference in March in London. These sessions can be quite intense. You get assigned organisations based on your skill Read more…