Позитивные изменения, Том 3 №1, 2023. Positive changes. Volume 3, Issue 1 (2023)

15. Кузьмин, А. И. (2016). Будущее оценки. Режим доступа: https://evaluationconsulting.blogspot.com/2016/06/blog-post_14.html. Kuzmin, A. I. (2016). The Future of Evaluation. Retrieved from: https://evaluationconsulting.blogspot.com/2016/06/blog-post_14.html.

16. Кузьмин, А. И. (2020). История развития мониторинга и оценки в Сети СЦПОИ. Начало. Режим доступа: https://evaluationconsulting.blogspot.com/2020/04/blog-post.html. Kuzmin, A. I. (2020). History of the development of monitoring and evaluation in the SCISC Network. Beginning. Retrieved from: https://evaluationconsulting.blogspot.com/2020/04/blog-post.html.

“Do it yourself:” How NGOs Evaluate Projects Using Their Own Resources

Alexey Kuzmin

DOI 10.55140/2782–5817–2023–3–1–34–43

Many experts believe that self-evaluation is one of the key trends in the development of evaluation in general. Self-evaluation is similar to external evaluation, but it has its peculiarities. The authors of this article discuss the importance of evaluation principles, and provide recommendations for NGO self-evaluation situations.

Alexey Kuzmin

PhD, Director General, Process Consulting Company, Council Member, International Evaluation Academy

THE STORY OF ONE PREDICTION

In 2012, American evaluator John Gargani, who later became president of the American Evaluation Association, posted 10 predictions in his blog about the future of program and project evaluation. The first point was worded as follows: “Most evaluations will be internal.” (Gargani, 2012).

What is it about?

To begin with, program (project) evaluation is “the systematic collection of information about the activities, characteristics, and outcomes of programs to make judgments about the program, improve program effectiveness, and/ or inform decisions about future programming.” (Patton, 2008).

Suppose an organization is implementing a project. The project can be evaluated by specialists external to the organization. This is external evaluation. Alternatively, the project can be evaluated by the specialists within the organization itself. This case is referred to as internal evaluation. Sometimes self-evaluation is singled out from internal evaluation, when the project is evaluated by the very same people who implement it.

Active development of the evaluation of socially oriented projects and programs in the United States started in the 1960s. The requirement to conduct an evaluation was part of the “top-down” approach, utilized first in the educational institutions, and then in other areas. This was an innovation at the time, and the evaluation was solely the domain of external consultants with the appropriate competencies.

It soon became clear that organizations should develop their own evaluation capabilities. The relevant practical experience was accumulated over the course of 10 to 15 years. The development of internal evaluation practices was one of the central topics at the 1982 American Evaluation Association conference (McClintock, 1983).

Arnold Love, Canada (A. J. Love, 1983), noted that internal evaluation serves two basic functions: first, it provides relevant and timely information for management decision-making; and second, the internal evaluation process in itself has a positive effect on both decision-making and the organizational performance. Love suggested that “over the next few years we can expect the internal evaluation function to continue growing and changing” (A. J. Love, 1983). By the way, this prediction was published 30 years before the one made by John Gargani.