Evaluation planning tool

This template sets out the key elements to consider when planning your evaluation.

Don’t forget to build the evaluation into your project plans and processes as much as possible.  Make sure it is feasible and utilises appropriate existing data that is aligned to, and informs, your monitoring plans.

The Health Foundations Evaluation: What to Consider Guide is a very useful overview of what to consider when planning an evaluation.

Project team

Outline who makes up the team and what their roles will be

Aims and objectives

Outline the context or rationale for undertaking the evaluation. Bring in here information from your business case, details of your intervention or change, and evidence reviews i.e. what is your case for change, what outcomes do you hope the service or innovation will achieve?

Design and methods

There are multiple approaches to evaluation which can be complex and confusing. A simple approach to overcome this is to consider the types of information and data you need to answer your evaluations aims and objectives. Consider both qualitative (i.e. narrative data from interviews, focus groups) and quantitative (i.e. numerical data from surveys, monitoring forms), the sources of that data (does it already exist or do you need to collect it). Ensure that you baseline your information where possible to compare ‘before’ with ‘after’. Consider utilising benchmarking data from elsewhere.

Ethics and governance

Ensure you have considered what the ethical implications of the evaluation are and how they will be mitigated and reviewed throughout the project lifecycle. For example, will personal data be anonymised?

Resources

Outline the resource requirements (people, money , equipment, facilities etc) and include here internal project resources to support the evaluation as well as any financial resources and funding available. You have probably already started to identify these when assessing whether to do an evaluation.

Outputs and impact

This is a description of what will be produced (e.g. the evaluation report) from the evaluation as well as the intended use and impact. Remember to include this into any communication plans.

References

All sources quoted in the proposal should be acknowledged and correctly referenced.