Have you ever been curious about what it is like to volunteer as an evaluator? Or are you considering a volunteer opportunity in the near future? This article aims to give you some insight into finding and engaging in a volunteer opportunity.

Whether due to global pandemics, restricted travel budgets, or stakeholders flung across the world, evaluators should be prepared to facilitate virtual meetings or sessions. We've taken the guesswork out of how to facilitate a great virtual session and have rounded up our best tips and tricks.

Up until one month ago my evaluation experience was firmly rooted in Canada. Like many young (ish) evaluators, I wanted to get international experience – more specifically I wanted to take on the challenge of doing evaluation work in a developing country. I would soon find out that I was incorrect in my optimism to copy and paste my evaluation perspective as well as my packing list.

So you landed an evaluation contract and the first meeting date is set. Here are some pointers for kicking your evaluation off on the right foot.

As independent evaluation consultants, we might find ourselves working in the “gig economy” – that thrilling and perilous world of odd jobs and short-term contracts (and best of all: freedom). Whether or not you participate in the gig economy, key to success for any consultant is branding: it’s how you tell the world who you are and the unique value you offer.

A business process is a set of tasks, including the staff and materials required, that is used again and again to accomplish a goal.

This article is about building and improving processes for your evaluation consulting business.

This blog post explores augmented and virtual reality and how evaluators can use this technology. If you don’t know what VR is then keep reading – you may find some ideas for transforming your evaluation practice.

Each evaluation is different. You have different stakeholders, different topics, different timelines and different end goals. Some evaluation plans will be simple, and others more complex. When developing your evaluation plan, you can take a mix and match approach to its composition.

Here are some common components of evaluation plans. Your plan might need just a few, or it may need all of them.

Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to AEA’s annual evaluation conference this year (I chose a Mai Tai on the beaches of Maui instead). However, one of the wonderful things about the Internet is that I was able to feel like I was part of the conference by following #eval19 on Twitter. So what was my one big takeaway through the Twitter lens? Of course, it came from the evaluation guru himself, Michael Quinn Patton (MQP) – “Evaluating transformation means transforming evaluation.”

Here are the six six C’s that make a good evaluator: competent, credible, curious, communicative, creative, and common-sense oriented.