Evaluation office hours.
Forty-five minutes with an evaluator, free, for any small non-profit or community organization with an evaluation question. No pitch, no follow-up sales call.
Most evaluation problems are solved in an hour.
A great many organizations are stuck on something small: an indicator that will not behave, a survey nobody finishes, a funder asking for an outcome the programme was never designed to produce. None of that needs a contract.
It is also, frankly, how we learn what practitioners are actually struggling with. The questions that come up repeatedly become What works notes, which are free too.
The honest bit
We are a not-for-profit that also sells evaluation work, so there is an obvious question about motive. Our commitment: we will answer your question properly whether or not there is an engagement in it, and we will not follow up with a sales approach unless you ask us to.
The kind of thing that fits in forty-five minutes.
"Our funder wants outcomes"
How to report honestly when the programme measures outputs and the funder is asking for something else.
"Nobody finishes our survey"
Length, timing, incentives, and which questions to cut first.
"Is our sample big enough?"
Usually the wrong question, and we will say what the right one is.
"How do we ask about this safely?"
Sensitive subjects, trauma-informed design, and when to bring in a specialist.
"We have data and no idea what it says"
Where to start, and what not to bother analysing.
"Do we need ethics review?"
Often yes, more cheaply than you think. See ethics review.
Tell us the question.
Sessions run monthly. We will come back with times, and if your question is better answered by an email than a call we will just answer it.
- Free, and there is no catch.
- Small non-profits and community organizations get priority.
- Bring a colleague if it helps — up to three people.