Program Managers face a crucial decision in evaluating programs: internal or external evaluators? While internal evaluators offer deep organizational insight and integrated project design potential, external evaluators bring impartiality, specialized skills, and flexibility. This article explores the pros and cons of each approach, guiding you through factors like project sensitivity, budget considerations, and long-term impact. Discover the best evaluator for your organization's needs and goals.

This article introduces our new Canva design template to enhance your next Theory of Change. By utilizing this customizable template, you can present your next Theory of Change in a more distinct format, ideal for sharing it with a broader audience, such as on websites or in presentations.

Check out the top 10 articles + top 10 resources of 2023 from Eval Academy!

It seems so simple – just ask a question! But many new evaluators or side-of-desk evaluators struggle with confidence in creating good evaluation questions. This article shares a few tips for writing evaluation questions as well as an example of how I go from a client meeting to drafting evaluation questions.

A SWOT is a tool commonly used at the beginning of a new venture or as part of a new strategic planning process. A SWOT in evaluation could be used as a data collection tool or to present evaluation findings and create recommendations. This article outlines what a SWOT analysis is and how to complete one.

This Logic Model template is for anyone who wants to make Logic Models that look professional and visually interesting. This Canva design template can be customized to create your own Logic Model, suited to your evaluation needs. The professional design of this template makes it easy to create a visually interesting Logic Model to present to clients, share on a website, or submit in a report.

Evaluations of any size tend to need to adhere to budgets, whether for financial or human resourcing constraints. There are certain pitfalls that can quickly derail your budget. This article will guide you through some of the most common budget pitfalls to help you plan and support you to stay on budget throughout your evaluation.

Ethical practice is a cornerstone of our evaluation work at Three Hive Consulting. Not only does ethical practice ensure we are doing right by everyone involved, but conducting evaluations ethically adds to the professionalization of our work. This article defines ethical practice and provides some recommendations for how you can apply an ethical lens to your evaluation.

Eval Academy just released a new infographic, “10 Reasons to Evaluate.” This infographic is for Program Managers and Program Leaders who are thinking about implementing an evaluation and are looking for a little inspiration as to why evaluating this year is a good idea!

Being knowledgeable about Implementation Science can only make our evaluation work stronger.

In this article, we explain what a Log Frame is (spoiler: it’s not a logic model), why they can be useful tools for program planning and evaluation outside of international development, and how to make one of your own.

You might have noticed how there seem to be quite a few evaluation tools doing very similar things. It’s no surprise that these tools can sometimes be confused, and the lines can be blurred around when and how to use them. To help you on your way to deciding which tool is best suited to your evaluation, we’ve selected a few of our favourites to compare and contrast.

The evaluation world is full of jargon! In this article, we list our back-pocket definitions for some of the most confusing evaluation language.

This evaluation facilitation series will highlight some of these facilitation activities and how I have applied them over the years. This article focuses on their “Making Metaphors” activity, along with some step-by-step instructions you can use to try it in your own evaluations.

A look at how using different evaluation strategies or frameworks can help you to craft perfect evaluation questions.

Every evaluation is different, but there are a few topics that should be covered in every kick-off meeting.

Congratulations, evaluator, you’ve landed a client! Or maybe your organization has selected an evaluator to complete an exciting project. Either way, your next step is a contract for evaluation services. In this post, we list some components you should include, or at least consider, in your evaluation contract.

Sometimes managing evaluations can feel like herding cats. Despite your best efforts at nailing down methods, timelines, and other evaluation requirements, plans tend to change, especially if you aren’t paying attention.

A good RFP will yield good proposals. Unclear RFPs with overly burdensome submission requirements may drive away highly qualified firms or consultants, and what submissions do come may miss your intended mark. If you’re creating an evaluation RFP, include these elements to get better submissions.

While we aren’t able to stop your family and pets from ambling by and needing something from you in the middle of an engaging session, we do have some tips to help you maximize your virtual conference experience. Here are 9 things you can do to maximize your virtual conference experience.