Mission of Evaluation Unit
To provide continuous, high-quality support to enhance the mission of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation by developing, capturing, and communicating useful and usable information for key stakeholders and other audiences.
Evaluation Philosophy
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) views evaluation as a tool for learning how to do our work better. It provides a mechanism for both WKKF and our grantees to understand what works, what doesn’t, and why. It is a management tool that helps to make mid-course corrections and document the successes of our work. A key to our approach is that evaluation is not an “add-on.” The management team for the project must be actively engaged in identifying the information they need to make decisions, and in interpreting and using the evaluative data. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation Evaluation Handbook gives more details on our philosophy and approach to evaluation. It also includes tools to guide evaluation activity.
In addition, we encourage the use of participative evaluation approaches – ensuring that the voices, questions and concerns of those receiving services are included the design of the evaluation and that they are included in the collection and analysis of the data. We believe that the validity and usefulness of evaluation results are enhanced by seeking broad participation.
Our grantees are encouraged to develop a theory of change and logic model for their projects. (See the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Logic Model Development Guide on this website for more information.) A theory of change explains your underlying understanding of the issue you are addressing – it will clarify WHY you are doing what you are doing. A logic model helps to clarify WHAT you are doing -- the expected results short, intermediate, and long-term outcomes – and identifies how the project’s activities will contribute to achieving those outcomes. Project beneficiaries and other stakeholders should be included in the development of the logic model. With this logic model framework in place, grantees can then identify key evaluative information that will help to determine if the project is on-track and also more effectively learn from their experience.
We encourage the use of a variety of quantitative and qualitative approaches to evaluation. Most often, projects benefit from a mix of both. While surveys and questionnaires are the most familiar tools of evaluation, grantees are encouraged to use whatever methods are most appropriate for their setting.
Evaluation is sometimes seen as an intrusive requirement that takes time away from the “real” work of programming. However, we have learned that effective evaluation provides program practitioners with valuable information that leads to more effective programs. If project beneficiaries participate in the evaluation, the process of gathering data can become part of the change process. We encourage you to think differently about evaluation, and to make a firm commitment to evaluate your project and share the results with WKKF and others. Together we can move evaluation from being a stand-alone monitoring process to an integrated and valuable part of program planning and delivery.
This toolkit is designed to provide our grantees with guidance as they undertake this learning effort. It is targeted primarily at those grantees who will be working with an external evaluator, but we believe anyone who is seeking to design an effective, useful evaluation can benefit from this material. Use the links in the left hand column to access the toolkit.