Evaluating Impact Training Module 1: An introduction to evaluation - Understanding the essentials

‍The Evaluating Impact Training Programme is aimed at project staff, service leads, evaluation teams and funders in the public and community & voluntary /non-profit sectors who are delivering services to benefit communities and want to demonstrate the impact of their work.

It has been designed for those who need to understand the basics of evaluation and for those who need skills to design impact measurement frameworks, collect and analyse relevant data and report on the findings.

'Module 1: An Introduction' is the first of 4 modules and provides a basic overview of evaluation for organisations that want to begin demonstrating their impact.

You may feel that your intervention or service is having a positive impact on the people you want to benefit, and you may be gathering some evidence or data already. But you may not know how to use that evidence to prove you are making a difference, or even if the interventions you are providing are the right ones to achieve your aims.

This introductory training course will help you think about how to measure what you are doing in a meaningful way.

What will be covered in this module?

• Understanding the essentials of evaluation
• Outcomes & Outputs: what are they and why do they matter?
• If-Then Relationships: how do you know that your activities are achieving the outcome you expect?
• Indicators: how will you know you are making a difference?

Who is it suited to?

This module is suitable for project staff and service leads who need to understand the core ingredients of evaluation.

What will you learn?

• The ability to identify outputs, outcomes and indicators of success for your service

• Knowledge of how to articulate the ‘theory of change’ of your service, that is, your theory of why your work will achieve the outcomes you are aiming for.

You will develop a completed Logic Model that describes your project on a page, how you will achieve the outcomes you are aiming for and how you will know you are making a difference.

How will you learn?

Participants will be guided through a series of slides which provide comprehensive and expert knowledge on good evaluation practice.

The training includes workbooks with practical exercises to complete, accompanied by resources and templates to help you apply the learning to your own organisation or service.

You can complete the training at your own pace.

Next steps

You can access the training here: https://eco-training.moodlecloud.com/

You can also sign up for the other 3 modules to take advantage of our bundle offer.

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Module 1: An introduction to evaluation: Understanding the essentials

Module 2: The Nuts and Bolts of Evaluation: What to Evaluate and How

Module 3: Making meaning from your data: Analysing the stories and statistics

Module 4: Telling the Story of Your Data: Communicating your findings to target audiences

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‍If you have any questions contact us at: ECOtraining@effectiveservices.org