Using Consultants
Using consultants can be helpful, but only if you know what you want them to do. This section will help you to:
- work out what you need from an external evaluation, and
- write an effective brief.
Getting Started
Do you know why evaluation is important? Are staff and managers motivated to get started? Do you have clear statements about the difference you want to make as an organisation?
Collecting Information
Do you have statements that help you recognise the impact that you have? Do you have the right systems to enable you to measure what you do, and the difference that you make?
Using Consultants (Optional)
Do you know what you want from an external evaluation, and can you communicate that? Do you know how to go about commissioning consultants?
Analysing & Reporting
Do you know how to analyse the information you collect? Can you write a report about what you've done and the difference you've made?
Learn from your Findings
Do you know how to use the findings to improve your service? Do you know how to share your findings with others?
Find a Consultant
Evaluation Support Scotland are unable to do an evaluation for you! You can use the search facility below to find consultants who can do external evaluations. We do NOT endorse or provide our own judgement on consultants or verify what they say about themselves.
Are you a consultant providing evaluation services?
Resources
Case Studies
ESS Case Study: Hearts and Minds (using consultants)
Hearts & Minds work to promote the quality of life for people in hospital and hospice care. It delivers participative arts-in-health programmes: the Clowndoctors programme for children in ...
ESS Support Guides
ESS Support Guide 5.1: Getting the best from an external evaluation
This guide covers how you can get the best from an external evaluation, it considers the need for an external consultant, hiring an external consultant, the evaluation budget, managing the ...
Online Training
Getting the Best from External Evaluation
This e-course is primarily designed for voluntary organisations and funders working or based in Scotland who are considering employing an external evaluation consultant. The course is ...
Thematic Guides and resources
Addressing the challenges for evaluation
This paper is for people with a role in commissioning, funding or evaluating ...
Befriending and Mentoring Evaluation Resource Pack
This resource pack was comissioned by Befriending Network Scotland, Scottish Mentoring Network and Evaluation Support Scotland to support projects to undertake monitoring ...
CES Guidance Papers: Quality and Evaluation in Community and Voluntary organisations
Written but the Charities Evaluation Services (CES) in June 2005. Guidance Paper 1: How much should we expect to pay for an external evaluation? This paper sets out ...
Making the Case - Social Added Value Guide
The guide helps organisations in the social economy to demonstrate the social added value that is intrinsic to services they deliver. It offers a recognised way to measure the ...
Managing Outcomes - A Guide for Homelessness Organisations
This guide has been written for people working in the homelessness field. It provides definitions and examples of identifying outcomes, explores the different perspectives of stakeholder groups ...
Mental Health Improvement: Evidence and Practice - Guide 1: Evidence Based Practice
This is the first in a series of Evaluation Guides that aim to encourage, support and improve standards in the evaluation of mental health improvement initiatives. This guide aims to help ...
Mental Health Improvement: Evidence and Practice - Guide 2: Measuring Success
This guide aims to help develop indicators to gauge progress and assess the effectiveness of mental health improvement interventions. Covers the use of consultation to develop robust, valid and ...
Mental Health Improvement: Evidence and Practice - Guide 3: Getting Results
This is the third in a series of Evaluation Guides, which aim to encourage, support and improve standards in the evaluation of mental health improvement initiatives. This guide gives an overview ...
Mental Health Improvement: Evidence and Practice - Guide 4: Making an Impact
This is the fourth in a series of Evaluation Guides, which aim to encourage, support and improve standards in the evaluation of mental health improvement initiatives. impact. This guide discusses ...
Paul Hamlyn Foundation Evaluation Resource Pack
This comprehensive pack from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation takesd the reader through the whole process of evaluation. It is clearly written and well explained, covering the pros and cons of a ...
The Program Manager's Guide to Evaluation
This is a very clearly written guide to the evaluation process, covering self evaluation and external evaluation. It takes the reader through the whole process and includes lots of useful ...
The Programme Managers Guide to Evaluation (Children's Services)
Nine chapters cover what, why and how to evaluate and learn from evaluation. By US Department of Health & Human Services (December 2003) Chapter 1 looks at ...
The W.K Kellogg Foundation Evaluation Handbook
This handbook provides a fairly in-depth look at some basic questions, such as the limitations of scientific methods in evaluation. One of the key aims of evaluation for the Kellogg ...
Tools
Getting the Best from External Evaluation
This e-course is primarily designed for voluntary organisations and funders working or based in Scotland who are considering employing an external evaluation consultant. The course is ...
If you cannot find what you are looking for or do not know where to start, please contact us using our support request form
Scottish Charity Number: SC036529, Scottish Company Number: SC284843