7.5: Who will use the evaluation?

All evaluation begins with questions raised by persons or groups.

Who are these users, and what do they want to know?
Who might be interested in the evaluation?

It is best to involve potential evaluation users in the construction of the logic model. This group exercise builds commitment and consensus. Those same and/or other stakeholders help shape the evaluation. Think about:

Who cares about the program?
What do they care about?
What questions are they asking about the program?
Who are the supporters and the skeptics?

Possible Users

People affected in some way by the program (either directly or indirectly) such as program participants, nonparticipants, critics
Program staff
Administrators
Fund providers
Elected and appointed officials
Board members
Community residents
Colleagues
Volunteers
Collaborators, partners
Media·
Agencies, associations, foundations
Businesses, companies

Who wants to know what? How will the information be used?

Who might use the evaluation?	What do they want to know?	How will they use the results?
Program Staff	To what extent are we, the program staff, reaching the individuals we targeted? To what extent and in what ways is the program making a difference?	To report to fund providers To change the strategy if it isn’t working
Participants	How are we, the participants, benefiting? How am I, an individual participant, doing compared to others?	To decide about continued participation To share with others/tell others about the program
Public Officials	Is the program achieving its goals? Who are the partners? Who is the program serving? Is it worth the cost?	To decide about support To inform policy decision making and receive knowledge about what works and doesn’t work
Partners	Are participants making the expected changes? Why? Why not? Are they satisfied? What are we, the partners, getting out of this? Are all partners carrying out their role?	To decide if and how to continue the partnership
Fund Providers	Are program staff doing what they said they’d do? Is the program worth the cost?	To determine funding allocation decisions To inform future grant-making efforts