Phase III – Implement and Grow
Step 2 – Evaluate Progress
Take Action! Create an Evaluation Plan
Tracking and evaluating progress towards your goals will help you to maintain partner accountability, monitor for current and future funding needs, identify problems early enough to fix them, and show your successes. These things can all help you to secure more engagement, funding, and other support.
Create an evaluation plan to measure both your outcomes and your initiative progress. See the two tables below for examples of outcome and initiative measurements.
Outcome Evaluation: Measure Progress Towards Your Goals
Goal
- Example: Increase lung cancer screening in the eligible population.
Starting Baseline
- Lung cancer screening in the eligible population was 10%.
Where We Are Now*
- 2 years into the project: Lung cancer screening in the eligible population is 12%.
- 5 years into the project: Lung cancer screening in the eligible population is 20%.
Goal
- Example: Increase the percentage of people who currently smoke who contact the state Quitline.
Starting Baseline
- The percent of people who smoke who contacted the state Quitline annually was 45%.
Where We Are Now*
- The percent of people who smoke who contacted the state Quitline is 60%.
Goal
- Example: Increase the percentage of patients diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer who receive biomarker testing at five community hospitals.
Starting Baseline
- The baseline could be for five sites or by individual site.
- Biomarker testing rates for this target population were 20% across the five sites.
Where We Are Now*
- Biomarker testing rates for this target population increased by at least 10% at each of the five sites.
Goal
- Example: Decrease the percentage of patients with advanced lung cancer who stop treatment due to cost.
Starting Baseline
- 50% of patients with advanced lung cancer who expressed financial distress were successfully connected to appropriate financial assistance.
Where We Are Now*
- 80% of patients with advanced lung cancer who expressed financial distress were successfully connected to appropriate financial assistance.
* Track at a variety of timepoints to make sure you are staying on course. Funders may want to see an annual report, but quarterly reviews can help you see early success or where there are problems that need to be addressed.
Process Evaluation: Measure Coalition Functionality
What to Evaluate
- Coalition Function
How to Evaluate It
- Survey task group members and leaders using a tool like the Wilder Collaboration Factors Inventory to see how they feel about working together as a coalition.
- Track attendance at meetings and engagement in activities
- Resource Sustainability
- Assess how your funding and budget are supporting your priorities and activities
- Representation
- Review active partners to see how well your coalition represents diversity in partner groups.
- Review active members to see how well your coalition represents the needs of underrepresented or marginalized populations
Tips and Troubleshooting
This section provides insights from coalition leaders on how to overcome common challenges related to evaluating progress.
Common Challenge
- Not knowing where to start with an evaluation
Insights
Find out what measures the members of your coalition are tracking separately and pull them in to track collectively.
- Evaluating the work accurately
Find evaluation teams outside of the initiative staff to provide objectivity; they can push and also stand back and evaluate rigorously.
Lean on specific members who have evaluation expertise.
Ask coalition members who are affiliated with a university to connect you with their colleagues who work in evaluation.
A Helpful Worksheet
Evaluate Progress Worksheet
This worksheet can help you to track your progress and your impact.