Evaluation Considerations

Evaluation is a critical component of diabetes programs provided by food banks and other community organizations. This part of the toolkit provides context for the importance of program evaluation and describes three types of evaluation that your organization may wish to conduct.

This section aims to provide a high-level overview of evaluation considerations, but it is important to note that there is no one-size-fits-all approach for every organization. Consulting with an evaluation expert will help you develop and implement an evaluation plan that will generate helpful findings while also being responsive to your organization’s unique needs and resources.

Why Evaluation is Important

Program evaluation can be challenging, but, when done well, it provides a range of benefits. Among other advantages, high-quality evaluation can help with:
Funding

Having evidence about whom your diabetes program is reaching and how participants are being affected can help to attract and sustain program funding.
Program Quality

Program evaluation can illuminate areas of strength and of weakness and inform data-driven decision-making to enhance program quality.
Stakeholder Buy-In

Sharing strong data about your program can help to increase program buy-in from a range of stakeholders including organizational leadership, staff, partners, and participants.
Sustainability

Quality evaluation can support program sustainability by informing ongoing quality improvement, attracting and retaining partners, and keeping funders engaged.

“A lot of that [evaluation data] is going to be used for grants to say, hey, we made a difference, we made an impact, please give us more money….I’m sure that it will be used in donation campaigns to say, look, these are the great things we’re doing.”

– Diabetes food pantry implementer

    Finding Evaluation Support

    Many food banks have existing staff with evaluation expertise. If your organization has such in-house capacity, it would be wise to engage their help early on in designing your evaluation plan. If not, your organization might benefit from finding help from outside your organization.

    • Some food banks with diabetes services have hired organizations with appropriate expertise to help with evaluation design and implementation.
    • You can also look at colleges or universities local to your area and enlist help from faculty members or students with evaluation expertise who might work with your program as interns, consultants, part-time employees, or volunteers.

    An evaluation expert may help your organization select a framework to guide the overall evaluation design. See the Additional Tools section for more information about frameworks.

    Types of Evaluation

    Food banks involved in this project used three primary types of evaluation in their community-based diabetes programs: formative, process, and outcome evaluation. This section of the toolkit therefore focuses on these evaluation types. Your program evaluator may also consider other approaches, like summative evaluation and impact evaluation.

    The tabs to the right provide overviews of formative, process, and outcome evaluation along with high-level considerations for each.