Evaluating Newid: Digital for the Third Sector
Thanks for joining us. This is the second weeknote for Newid — Digital for the third sector. A joint project from WCVA, Cwmpas and ProMo-Cymru funded by Welsh Government to support the Welsh third sector in delivering better digital services.
This week its my turn. I’m Alison from WCVA, and I’m going to be chatting about evaluations and impact.
The last item on my pre-Christmas to do list was to publish the Request for Quotes (RfQ) for the evaluation of this initial stage of Newid (running until March 2022). Published on Sell2Wales, the RfQ outlines our project, what we need to evaluate and invites potential evaluators to submit quotes for undertaking this work.
Why are we evaluating Newid?
Making a difference — We need to know that the activities we have planned (themselves based on the evaluations of other pieces of work that we or colleagues from across the UK have completed) make the differences that our participants need, and how successfully they do that. With this knowledge, we will be able to refine and improve future activities even further.
Staying on track — In the shorter term, monitoring the activities we are delivering under Newid will help us to make sure that they are achieving, or at least contributing to, the outcomes we hope to achieve for the third sector in Wales. It gives us the opportunity to adjust any aspect of the project that is falling short of expectations.
Understanding our work — Once projects are up and running, its not uncommon to find that they have unintended outcomes. These are often positive, but can be negative in some instances. In-depth evaluations (that include interviewing participants directly rather than just relying on evaluation forms, for example) are much more likely to identify these additional outcomes.
Making the case — having evidence of the impact our work has made will better enable us to make the case for further funding to continue this work in the future. We know from colleagues and projects in the other UK nations that there is years of work ahead to make sure that the Welsh third sector has the skills, knowledge and confidence it needs to make the most of the opportunities digital can bring.
Being able to demonstrate the impact this initial stage has will help us to further build the case of support to attract the funding needed to make this work a reality.
Having case studies from the project will also help us to promote activities in the future to more potential participants. They are also a great tool to help us share our learning with colleagues across the UK’s third sectors, as well as peers from other sectors here in Wales through Newid’s relationship with the Centre for Digital Services.
Why worry about it at the start?
Seeking evaluators is one of the first tasks WCVA has gotten underway now Newid is up and running. We want to begin working with evaluators for the project as soon as possible. By engaging an evaluator as close to the start of the project as possible, we get their expert insight on how best to collect all of the information we need to fully evaluate the project right from the word ‘go’.
For instance, to ensure we ask the right questions on evaluation forms for the training and events being delivered. If an evaluator only comes in at the end of the project, once all the data has been collected, it would be difficult to go back out to participants if key questions have been missed and therefore prevent you from being able to show the impact of your work.
Evaluation and funding
Being the Sustainable Funding Manager at WCVA, I can’t not touch on evaluation in relation to funding.
As I mentioned above, monitoring and evaluating projects, interventions and services (or anything you do as a third sector organisation for that matter) is key to helping you show the value of the work you are delivering. Knowing the value and impact of your work, and being able to articulate that effectively, will make attracting funding and donations to support your work that bit easier.
Most funders will allow you to include budget for evaluation in your grant applications, and some even require it. Check the eligible expenditure guidelines if you’re unsure.
Inspiring Impact
WCVA has been a partner in the UK-wide Inspiring Impact project for several years. We now host an Inspiring Impact peer support network where members can share learning and good practice. Contact governance@wcva.cymru to join the network.
You can also check out the resources available on our Impact and Evaluation webpage if you’d like more information and guidance on this.
Newid Evaluation
We look forward to appointing evaluators for Newid in the coming weeks. The evaluation report and other evaluation content (such as case studies) will of course be posted on this blog when we have them later in the year.
Bye for now!
