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Section Six
Evaluating a Coalition

"To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target."
Anonymous

Overview of Section

This section discusses the various types of evaluation, discusses models for evaluation, reviews literature on evaluation, and generally points to the long-term value of evaluation for coalitions.

A. Overview of Evaluation

What Is Evaluation?

Evaluation has been defined as the systematic acquisition and assessment of information to provide useful responses about some object.

Systematic implies that there is deliberate and planned effort made to get information for this purpose.
Acquisition indicates that some information is collected and saved with the intention of using it constructively.
Assessing suggests that the data that were saved are now reviewed and judgments are made about the validity of the data collected and conclusions drawn from that data.
Object refers to anything that is a legitimate matter of study and about which data can be collected; this can be a policy, a program, a person, or an activity.

Usefulness of Evaluation

The ultimate goal of any evaluation for a coalition is to be useful. Evaluation can be used for any of the following reasons:

To meet commitments to those providing funds, such as, foundations and state or local funding agencies.
To provide information to the agencies and organizations who as members support the work of the coalition.
To supply administrators and staff with the type of information useful for making decisions about programs operated by the coalition.
To generate the data that can be used to market the coalition while spreading work of the coalition’s success within the community.