Evaluation is a subject that has gained lots of attention lately. Most, if not
all, foundations as well as state grant sources are requiring some form of
evaluation to make sure that monies received are being spent wisely. The name of
the game is
now more than ever "accountability." Be very
careful you don't slide into the trap of chasing after grant dollars so hard you
lose site of your organization's mission!
The Public Entity Risk Institute (PERI)
is a dynamic, forward-thinking organization that serves as a resource to enhance
the practice of risk management throughout organizations and communities.
Serving public entities, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations, PERI
provides relevant and high quality enterprise risk management information,
training, data, and data analysis.
PERI’s goal is to be an
organization that is seen by its principal customers and stakeholders as the
independent thought leader and definitive resource in the field of risk
management; as a constant innovator; and as a ready source of practical and
highly valued products
PERI’s objectives are to:
Raise our constituents’
awareness and understanding that managing their organizations’ risk on an
enterprise-wide basis is a critical component of success;
Provide practical, affordable,
and easily accessible enterprise risk management education and training
resources to help PERI constituents effectively manage risk on an
enterprise-wide and community-wide basis;
Serve as a resource center and
information clearinghouse;
Evaluation,
in the context of management activities, is carefully collecting
information about something in order to make necessary decisions
about it. There are a large number and wide variety of
evaluations that can occur in businesses, whether for-profit or
nonprofit. http://www.mapnp.org/library/evaluatn/evaluatn.htm
The
National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) is the national
repository of data on the nonprofit sector in the United States.
Its mission is to develop and disseminate high quality data on
nonprofit organizations and their activities for use in research
on the relationships between the nonprofit sector, government,
the commercial sector, and the broader civil society. http://nccs.urban.org/
The
American Evaluation Association is an international professional
association of evaluators devoted to the application and
exploration of program evaluation, personnel evaluation,
technology, and many other forms of evaluation. Evaluation
involves assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programs,
policies, personnel, products, and organizations to improve
their effectiveness. http://www.eval.org
The United Way of America Outcome Measurement Network. The
Resource Network's purpose is to provide information on outcome
measurement resources and learnings from chapters of United Way
of America and other organizations. The Outcome Measurement
Resource Network has 6 sections:
http://www.liveunited.org/outcomes/?
Outcome
Measurement: Showing Results in the Nonprofit Sector
http://www.liveunited.org/outcomes/library/ndpaper.cfm?
This article appeared in the Fall 1997 issue of New
Directions For Evaluation: Using Performance Measurement to
Improve Public and Nonprofit Programs and was written by
Margaret Plantz and Martha Taylor Greenway of United Way of
America and Michael Hendricks, an independent consultant.
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