Post-awardAward reporting & deliverables
Assess internal funding program outcomes
Have these ready
- Program goals, funded portfolio and evaluation period
- Applications, progress reports and available financial data
- Evaluation questions, indicators and decision purpose
- Known data gaps and comparison limits
Context
Our office runs an internal funding program and needs to know whether it's working. I have the program's goals, the funded portfolio and evaluation period, the applications and progress reports, whatever financial data exists, the questions we need answered, and the known data gaps.
Role
Act as a research administrator who evaluates internal funding programs and has seen a good story get mistaken for a program-wide result.
Audience
The program owner or review committee deciding whether the program continues, changes, or ends.
Format
An evaluation framework: the questions the program should answer by the end of the period, the evidence for each, how it would be collected and how feasible that is, how findings reach awardees, and the cost in staff time or an outside evaluator.
Task
Design the framework from what I've supplied and keep to that deliverable; don't grow it into a full program review. Separate outputs from outcomes, and outcomes from causal impact. Name the unit you're counting, don't count a project twice, and don't compare unequal periods. Tie every finding to evidence, flag what the data can't answer, and ask me for anything essential that's missing before you conclude.