The Federal Evaluation ToolkitBETA
Promoting Evaluation Use
Evaluation use is a critical step in the evidence lifecycle. Building evidence without using it is a missed opportunity. Yet, too often, we see evaluation reports that sit collecting dust on bookshelves instead of being used to improve programs, policies, and operations. How do you ensure that an evaluation's findings get used? Doing this well requires strategic thinking while planning an evaluation, and a thoughtful approach to dissemination. These resources will help you plan for and anticipate how the findings from an evaluation can be used to make sure that the evaluation produces findings that are useful as well as dissemination strategies that get the findings in front of those who can use them.
How to Communicate Findings from a Program Evaluation
Report
Communicating findings from a program evaluation is critical to support their use. This communication guide, Communication Guide for TTCW Grantees: What to Consider When Sharing Program Accomplishments, provides strategies for sharing program outcomes with target audiences. Created for Tribal TANF – Child Welfare Coordination grantees, its contents, tools, and templates are applicable for many programs and policy areas.
Disseminating Findings from Program Evaluation
Slide Deck
Use this slide deck to help choose effective dissemination strategies for your evaluation findings and products. This slide deck, Program Evaluation Toolkit - Module 8: Dissemination Approaches, walks through defining the focus of your initiative and the evaluation, your intended audiences for the evaluation findings, the audiences’ intended use of findings, dissemination strategies, and next steps. Check out the overview to learn more about how this resource can help you.
Dissemination Matrix Template
Guide
Worksheet
Use this matrix template and worksheet to help you think through dissemination of your evaluation findings. The Dissemination Matrix Template: How to Share Important Aspects of your ATE Project with Others is designed to walk you through the what, who, how, where, and when of dissemination to ensure that you can maximize your dissemination efforts.