Course Description

The Certificate in Measuring Social Impact and Effective Storytelling helps participants reorient their focus from measurement as a compliance activity or “thumbs up, thumbs down” assessment of effectiveness to evaluation as the foundation for organizational learning and program improvement. An ongoing commitment to measurement allows nonprofits to determine what works and what doesn’t so they can improve services over time. Rather than being a task that is entirely outsourced to consultants, evaluation should be embedded into the culture and operations of a healthy nonprofit. The entire team plays a role from the Executive Director to the Communications Director and frontline staff. This course provides a practical toolkit for conducting evaluation to drive social impact. The content is informed by utilization-focused evaluation proponent, Michael Quinn Patton. It draws extensively from Elena Harman’s handbook, “The Great Nonprofit Evaluation Reboot.” Participants will learn the five steps of evaluation in a manner that dismantles myths - such as the myth that the only valuable evaluation is a randomized controlled trial- and centers program participants. Students will explore how to take the findings from evaluation and use them to inform program improvement cycles. Recent writings from Ann Mei Chang (“Lean Impact”) and Kathleen Kelly Janus (“Social Startup Success”) provide a roadmap for this social innovation practice, which is accessible to even small nonprofits.