evaluator

Beach House In Focus Impact

5 Tips for Communicating Your Impact

Identifying and showcasing the content that matters most is crucial for effective communication in your organization. This blog post provides five tips to communicate your organization’s impact as part of your communication strategy. Tip #1: Know Your Audience Before drafting an impact report or email campaign, make sure you know your audience. Here are some …

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Checklist

When to Hire an External Evaluator – A Checklist!

  The Decision Should your organization hire an external evaluator or evaluation firm? The answer is that it depends.   When to Work with Internal Staff Some nonprofits are poised to conduct evaluation internally. These organizations have qualified staff who know how to conduct evaluations, design surveys, collect data, analyze findings, and report results. Often, …

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three plants

6 Benefits of Evaluation

Evaluation is a powerful tool for nonprofit organizations. In fact, evaluation is the “secret sauce” that differentiates organizations that thrive versus those that only survive. Additionally, evaluation can be a catalyst for positive change. For example, REC worked with a client for three years. At first, there were some reservations about data and using evaluation. …

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2018 in Gold Numbers

An Informal Evaluation of 2017

It’s hard to believe that 2017 is already over! REC was involved in so many different kinds of research and evaluation projects this past year. From early childhood education programs to evaluating services for older adults, REC was able to apply our quality research and evaluation skills to help the nonprofit community. As founder and …

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Popcorn machine and bag full of popcorn

What is Quantitative and Qualitative Data?

Two Types of Data When people discuss data, they typically describe it as either quantitative or qualitative. Yet, what is quantitative data? What is qualitative data? How are these two types of data different? Is one type of data better to use than the other? Why should this topic matter to purpose-driven organizations? This blog …

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Quality Collection Puzzle Pieces

Collecting Quality Data – 4 Questions

So you are excited to begin collecting quality data for your organization. That’s great! The information you collect has the power to demonstrate your impact, inform decisions, and improve your programs. Yet, what do you need to ask yourself before you get started? There are a number of methods to collect quality data. Some data …

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bridge on a path

Demystifying Research and Evaluation

I am a researcher, evaluator, and consultant trained in the academic world. I spent years of my life learning the language of research and evaluation, and I’ve read through more empirical studies and manuscripts than I can recall. The purpose of this blog is to demystify various research and evaluation topics and findings. These blog …

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