Report: Symposium on Measuring the Impact of Doing Good
The following is a guest post by Michele Tarsilla on a symposium on Measuring the Impact of Doing Good held at the University of Toronto.
Measuring results, as challenging as it could be, is nowadays an indispensable activity for all non-profits in Canada that want to stay abreast of the increasing competition within the sector, aggravated by the ongoing financial crisis. That notwithstanding, a considerable number of non-profits nationwide are still struggling to meet the funders’ growing demand for accountability and effectiveness, primarily because they lack the technical capacity to conduct rigorous evaluations of their programs’ impact.
As a result, there is a lack of evidence on the actual benefits produced by a large contingent of social programs and that ends up questioning quite severely the non-profits’ legitimacy vis-à-vis the public opinion. As no viable strategy seems to be available to alter the current scenario as of today, a general consensus is urgently needed within the sector on the two following issues:
- turning impact evaluation into a strategic management tool
- enhancing mutual understanding and closer technical collaboration between funders and non- profits
Given the current challenges but also the opportunities embedded within the Canadian Third Sector, the Rotman School of Management’s idea of organizing a symposium on measuring the impact of doing good was particularly welcome. The general response to the Toronto event was so positive that over 200 representatives of non-profit organizations and funders attended it on January 21, 2009.
The symposium attained two primary objectives. First, it spearheaded a more engaging dialogue on performance measurement between funders and non-profits within and beyond the province of Ontario, by facilitating the exchange of experiences and lessons learned among participants. Second, it provided the venue for discussing both the pros and cons of mainstreaming the business model into the non profits’ planning and evaluation practices.
The symposium laid the ground work for further dialogue and possibly closer collaboration on evaluation between non-profits and funders in Canada. In particular, the following three major themes, capable of shaping the sector’s dynamic in the near future, seemed to recur more frequently during the debate:
- First, the non-profits’ shift in attitude towards evaluation. Evaluation is no longer viewed as a requirement to secure programs additional funding in the future but rather as a strategic management tool. That inevitably poses some relevant questions on the extent to which the adoption of the business model (based on such principles as cost-effectiveness and profits maximization) risks compromising the social values on which non-profits are grounded.
- Second, the gap existing between the funders’ high expectations and the grantees’ modest technical capacity. This is a very relevant issue which seems to confirm the non-profits’ need not only for simplified tools and methodologies but also for continued technical assistance provided by funders (piecemeal evaluation trainings are not enough).
- Third, the excessive focus on outcome measurements and the subsequent failure to acknowledge the relevance of qualitative evaluations. In highlighting the limitation of the current practice(s) within the sector, the discussion stressed the importance of introducing such innovative qualitative tools as participatory consultations, action-to-outcome-mapping and appreciative inquiry.
By taking into account the variety of opinions and experience shared by the event participants, this report will try to summarize some of the most relevant issues emerged in the course of the discussion.
Report - Symposium on Measuring the Impact of Doing Good
Michele Tarsilla is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Evaluation at Western Michigan University (USA) and, as part of his doctoral research, is specializing in the experimental and quasi-experimental design of evaluations in international development contexts. He has also been recently appointed as Associate Editor of the Journal of Multidisciplinary Evaluation. Michele has been consulting as an evaluation specialist for both the World Bank and the United Nations over the last eight years and has spent half of his career between sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America to evaluate health and social protection projects (e.g., HIV/AIDS community interventions, street children prevention and assistance projects, nutritional support programmes). Within the scope of his evaluation assignments, Michele has designed participatory evaluation strategies, developed and field-tested data collection tools, conducted M&E capacity building activities among client countries' government officials as well as NGOs and community-based organizations. In doing so, the primary focus of Michele’s work has been to enhance the effectiveness of in-country evaluation practices, by promoting clients’ utilisation of evaluation findings as well as the formulation of evidence-informed policies.
In 2009, Michele received an International Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship to pursue his research in evaluation of international development projects at Carleton University in Ottawa (Canada), where he also completed a Graduate Diploma in Public Policy and Program Evaluation sponsored by the World Bank. While in Canada, capitalizing on his familiarity with both civil society organizations and international donors, Michele conducted a research on the social impact evaluation of Corporate Social Responsibility programmes of credit unions, cooperative and foundations in Canada, in collaboration with Professor Ted Jackson at the Carleton University Centre for Community Innovation (3ci).
As a Fulbright Scholar, Michele earned his Master’s Degree in International Health and Development from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University (Washington DC, USA). Before then, he studied in France and Germany for two years and completed his undergraduate degree in International Affairs and Diplomacy at the Catholic University in Milan (Italy). Michele is fluent in six languages and has been living in over 13 different countries over the last twelve years.
