How Evaluation Strengthens Grant Proposals and Programs: Frequently Asked Questions

March 2023

By Cristin Rollins, Ph.D.

Whether you're applying for a grant, launching a new initiative, expanding an existing program, or trying to better understand your organization's impact, evaluation can help you make informed decisions and demonstrate the value of your work.

Funders increasingly want to know what their investments accomplish. Organizations want to know the same thing. Are we reaching the people we intended to serve? Are our programs working as we hoped? What are participants experiencing, and what could we do better?

At Statement House, we partner with organizations, agencies, and programs to answer these questions. We help our clients build evaluation into their work from the beginning, develop practical systems for measuring progress, and turn data into insights they can use.

Here are some of the questions we hear most often about program evaluation and working with an evaluation partner.

Why should I include an evaluation partner in my grant proposal?

A strong grant proposal explains what you plan to do, why it matters, and what you hope to accomplish. An evaluation plan helps you demonstrate how you'll know whether your efforts are successful.

An experienced evaluation partner can help you develop a research-informed program design, establish clear and measurable objectives, identify meaningful outcomes, and create a realistic strategy for collecting and using data.

Including an evaluation partner also signals to funders that you're committed to learning from your work and using evidence to guide decisions.

And when a funder requires independent evaluation, working with an external partner can provide additional expertise, objectivity, and credibility.

When do I need an evaluation plan?

It depends on the funding opportunity and the work you're proposing.

Some government grants require formal evaluation plans, specific performance measures, and regular reporting. Foundation and corporate funders may have fewer prescribed requirements while still expecting grantees to demonstrate progress and results.

Even when an evaluation plan isn't required, thinking about evaluation during the proposal process can strengthen your application. It encourages you to clarify your goals, articulate what success looks like, and consider how you'll learn whether your program is making a difference.

Evaluation is also valuable outside the grant process. Organizations use it to improve existing programs, inform strategic decisions, understand participant experiences, and make the case for continued investment.

Do I need a research partner or an evaluation partner?

Research and evaluation share many of the same tools, including surveys, interviews, observations, and quantitative analysis. The distinction often comes down to the questions you're trying to answer and how you intend to use the findings.

Research typically seeks to build knowledge or test ideas. For example, a researcher might study how participation in afterschool programs relates to young people's development across different settings.

Evaluation focuses on understanding the design, implementation, effectiveness, or value of a particular program or initiative. An evaluator might examine whether an afterschool program is reaching its intended participants, providing high-quality experiences, and achieving its desired outcomes.

The two approaches frequently overlap. Both can contribute valuable evidence.

For most organizations seeking to understand and strengthen their own programs, evaluation is a practical place to begin

What kind of evaluation do I need?

That depends on your program's stage of development and the questions you want to answer. Four common approaches include:

1. Formative evaluation

Are we designing the right program?

Formative evaluation is especially useful when developing a new initiative or adapting an existing one. It helps organizations assess whether a program is appropriate, feasible, and responsive to the needs of the people it intends to serve.

2. Process or implementation evaluation

Are we doing what we intended to do?

Implementation evaluation examines how a program operates in practice. It can help you understand who participates, what activities are delivered, how consistently the program is implemented, and what challenges or opportunities emerge along the way.

3. Outcome evaluation

Are we achieving the changes we hoped to see?

Outcome evaluation examines progress toward a program's intended results. For example, a youth development program might want to understand whether participants are developing stronger relationships, greater confidence, or new skills.

4. Impact evaluation

What difference is our program making?

Impact evaluation examines the effects attributable to a program or intervention. This often requires a more rigorous design to distinguish the program's contribution from other factors that might influence outcomes.

Not every program needs every type of evaluation. The right approach depends on what you need to learn, what decisions you hope to inform, and the resources available.

What does the evaluation process involve?

Although every evaluation is different, most follow a series of steps that help organizations move from questions to useful evidence.

1. Clarify the program and its intended outcomes. We begin by understanding your program, the people it serves, and the changes you hope to create. A logic model or theory of change can help make those connections explicit.

2. Develop evaluation questions. Together, we identify the questions that matter most. What do you want to know about implementation, participant experiences, outcomes, or opportunities for improvement?

3. Design a practical evaluation approach. We determine what information is needed, how it can be collected, and which methods will provide credible, useful answers. We also consider the time and capacity required of staff and participants.

4. Collect and analyze data. Depending on the evaluation, this might include surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, administrative records, or existing program data.

5. Make sense of the findings and put them to work. We help organizations interpret what the evidence means, communicate findings to different audiences, and use what they've learned to strengthen their programs.

A good evaluation creates opportunities for learning throughout the process. You shouldn't have to wait until the final report to discover something useful.

How much does program evaluation cost?

There is no single price or percentage that works for every evaluation.

Costs depend on the scope of the program, the questions being asked, the evaluation methods, the number of participants or sites involved, and the level of analysis and reporting required.

A multi-year evaluation of a statewide initiative will require a different investment than a focused assessment of a single community program.

The most important consideration is ensuring that the evaluation is appropriately sized for your goals, resources, and organizational capacity.

At Statement House, we work with clients to identify the questions that matter most and develop an evaluation approach that makes good use of their resources.

What if we don't have much experience collecting or using data?

That's okay. Many organizations are doing meaningful work without having a formal evaluation system in place.

You may already be collecting more useful information than you realize, through enrollment records, participant feedback, staff observations, attendance data, or other routine program activities.

An evaluation partner can help you understand what you're already measuring, identify gaps, and develop manageable processes that fit your organization's day-to-day operations.

The goal is to build your capacity to collect, understand, and use information in ways that support your work.

When should we bring Statement House into the process?

Ideally, as early as possible.

If you're developing a grant proposal, involving an evaluation partner early allows you to build meaningful measurement and learning into the program design and budget.

If your program is already underway, we can help you assess your current practices, refine your evaluation questions, strengthen your data collection, or make better use of information you've already gathered.

You don't need to have every detail figured out before reaching out. Helping organizations identify what they need to learn and how to learn it is part of our work.

Ready to get started?

Whether you're preparing a funding proposal, developing a new program, or looking for better ways to understand your organization's impact, we'd love to hear what you're working on.

Contact Statement House at hello@statementhouse.net to start a conversation about your evaluation needs.