Using contribution analysis to assess evaluation capacity outcomes in community organizations: Fid-Bau Portal

Using contribution analysis to assess evaluation capacity outcomes in community organizations

Bourgeois, Isabelle / Buetti, David

Community organizations face challenges in addressing the needs of their members and beneficiaries, particularly during times of crisis. More than ever, evidence‐informed programming and decision‐making are essential to help organizations “do more with less”; however, community organizations seldom have the individual and organizational evaluation capacity required to conduct and use evaluations to inform decision‐making. This article provides an overview of the evaluation of the LaboEval evaluation capacity building (ECB) intervention, a 5‐year program implemented in 16 organizations. LaboEval brings together direct and indirect individual and organizational ECB activities to enhance evaluation capacity. Contribution analysis (CA) was used as the evaluation approach in this study, assessing the intervention's activities, outputs, outcomes, and assumptions. Data sources include interviews, document reviews, surveys, administrative data, and a literature review. This evaluation contributes to the field by applying CA to a multiyear, multi‐organizational ECB intervention. The findings inform evaluation capacity builders and evaluators interested in CA, showcasing a unique approach to evaluating complex interventions across multiple organizations.