Collective Evaluation

Descriptions of how to do evaluation often imply that the process is done by one or two people in a single organization. Yet, evaluation can be improved when it is practiced in community. Organizations with similar missions, goals, and program outcomes–or shared geographies, audiences, networks, funders and more–benefit when they collaborate on the planning and implementation of their evaluations. 

Networked evaluation occurs when organizations collaborate by measuring common goals and outcomes, or sharing evaluation designs, methods, and tools to evaluate those outcomes. Networked evaluation provides value to individual organizations within the network. 

A step further, collective evaluation occurs when the design, processes, methods, findings, and other evaluation components are shared beyond the immediate network and with the field at large. 

Networked and collective evaluation provide many benefits. People and organizations benefit from the support and learning that comes from collaboration with others. When this learning is shared more broadly, other practitioners, evaluators, and funders can apply these lessons to their own programs and evaluations. As more lessons and findings are combined, a broader story can be told about the impact of environmental education.

Below are three possible paths to collective evaluation—one that begins with a network, another with common tools, and a hybrid approach.