Evaluation Roundup - June 2021

Welcome to our monthly roundup of new and noteworthy evaluation news and resources – here is the latest.

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New and Noteworthy — Reads

How Funders Seek and Use Knowledge to Influence Philanthropic Practice

A new study, commissioned by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and conducted by Engage R+D in partnership with Equal Measure, recently released a report that examined how funders find and use knowledge to influence their philanthropic practice. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) emerged as the leading topic of interest for funders. The study found that the specific information related to DEI ranged depending on funders’ DEI journey. However, some funders emphasized the necessity of community voice and lived experience to inform DEI efforts.

Values, Voice, and an Equitable Vision of Validity

If you are interested in reading more about voice, this essay by Jara Dean Coffey (Director of the Equitable Evaluation Initiative) is a must-read. In this essay, Coffey eloquently articulates why it is time to “elevate and integrate voice as an essential element of validity” in our research and evaluations. She discusses how white and western concepts of validity have dominated and how diversity and lived experience are not recognized as valid but added context to the analysis.

UNDP Evaluation Guidelines

The UNDP recently updated its Evaluation Guidelines. The Evaluation Guidelines give renewed emphasis to the importance of planning for evaluations and provide greater detail on expected roles and responsibilities for evaluation. The updated guidelines include seven sections, covering Evaluation Function, Decentralized Evaluation in UNDP, Evaluation Planning, Evaluation Implementation, Evaluation Roles and Responsibilities in Decentralized Evaluations, Quality Assessment, and a FAQ section.

Fashion for Good: Evaluation Report

Are you interested in seeing how others are conducting evaluations and how they are sharing back their results? Take a look at this evaluation from the Laudes Foundation that used a rubrics-enhanced evaluation framework.