How to Evaluate Community Projects

Community projects require a group of people working together.

Community projects are growing in popularity throughout the world. It is becoming more obvious that positive growth and change requires the efforts of a group of people working together to achieve goals. By the same token, time, funding and resources are always tight. So it is critical that they are used where they can help a community best. For this reason, it makes sense to spend an equal amount of resources evaluating community projects and their impact on the people whose lives they were meant to change.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Notebook
• Camera
• Tape recorder

Review Project Goals

1. Remind yourself what problem you want to solve or what gap you want to fill. Before you can achieve a goal, it helps to outline it clearly in your head.

2. Determine what causes a problem or enables a gap. The more specific you can be, the better.

3. Determine what needs to happen in order to make a change. Again, specifics are important.

4. The effectiveness of each community project should be measured. steel ruler image by dwags from Fotolia.com

   Determine what results you want to see. The results may vary at different stages in the process. So you may need to break down the desired results in terms of a time line.

5. Select a tangible way to measure progress. For example, determine what indicators you will see and how you will measure each project's effectiveness.

6. Compile the results from your review into a notebook and/or on a computer for future reference.

7. Take pictures before each project begins.

Collect Data

1. Estimate how many people's lives were touched by the community projects. This may be achieved by a survey or by observation. The results should go in a section of your notebook where you record numbers.

2. Collect personal stories that express how people's lives were changed by each project. Record them with a tape recorder. Take pictures after each project. Ask people for their opinion about whether they feel a sense of empowerment that directly ties to a project.

3. Newspapers are one source for evaluating community projects. Newspaper image by huimin from Fotolia.com

   Check newspapers for articles that relate to change that happened because of a project.

4. Collect data from a variety of sources over a period of time long enough to reflect accurately the change that may happen because of a project.

Analyze Data

1. Ask questions. Such questions are: Does the information you gathered seem to indicate that goals were met? Were there specific achievements that seem to be most successful? Do problem areas exist?

2. Use visuals to share the results of community project evaluations. pie graph image by Tomislav from Fotolia.com

   Put your results in a form other people can understand and to which other people can relate. Charts, graphs or other visuals are an effective way to present information.

3. Share your findings with other people. Data is valuable only when it is used. Form a team of individuals who are intelligent, open-minded and committed, and evaluate your data as a team. This will give everyone an opportunity to share successes and learn from mistakes.

Revise and Rethink

1. Utilize the information you collected. If a goal was not met, go back to the beginning to try to figure out why.

2. Brainstorm possible ways around external sources that seem to keep a project from meeting its goal. Community officials and project leaders are good sources for a team approach to this task.

3. Determine whether or not the team was the problem. Maybe you need more team members or different team members to accomplish a specific goal.

4. Realize that it is sometimes necessary to revise a goal. Perhaps the initial aims were misguided, incomplete or inappropriate. If changing the goal will improve the outcome, then change the goal.

Tips & Warnings

• Many computer programs can greatly simplify the process of data compilation and analysis.

• Interview children if applicable. Their perspective is often different from adults' perspective and is valuable.

• Look for people whose lives were not touched by the project. Their perspective may be helpful in solving problems.

References

• Joseph Rowntree Foundation: Evaluating Community Projects: A Practical Guide
• Energy Saving Trust: How to Monitor and Evaluate Your Community Project
• The Learner's Project: Evaluation and Impact Assessment

Resources

• Free Management Library: Basic Guide to Program Evaluation; Carter McNamara