PHASE THREE
Legacy
STEP 07
Learning from Evidence:
External Communication
In Step 07: Learning from Evidence: External Communication, you will share information from your findings in accessible formats tailored for specific groups. It is important here to contextualize the findings and support your findings with analysis of the available data.
To engage a public audience, you need to make your point clearly and quickly, but you must also tie your findings directly to the evaluation questions and back to the logic model. Organizing your findings and recommendations in this manner will ensure that you are reporting on the key questions that the evaluation was designed to answer.
Did you do what you said you would do?
Did you do it well?
Did it make a difference for the youth in your program?
KEY TAKEAWAY
Share your evaluation findings in a variety of traditional and new formats to engage different audiences. This way, you communicate your legacy to your many stakeholders in ways that they can understand the REAL story of your program.
Use the 5Ws and 1H framework for strategic storytelling!
01.
Determine WHAT the key findings are from your evaluation that you want to share.
What is the story? Are there promising practices? What can people learn from your experience? What are the larger narratives that your story challenges or reinforces? Know your evaluation story!
02.
Establish WHO needs to know your story.
What does that audience want to know? What kind of language is appropriate? What communication formats or platforms suit each audience? This is an opportunity to engage (or reengage!) your stakeholders. Know your audiences!
03.
Reflect on WHY your audiences should care about your story.
Ensure that your story is focused and relevant, includes details, and challenges expectations. Inspire feelings or actions by giving your audience opportunities to connect and engage. Make your story impactful!
04.
Determine HOW the findings will be shared.
Again, the formats and platforms you choose should align with your audiences’ needs. Engage your networks in mobilizing your story and identify champions and channels to achieve even greater impact.
05.
Map out WHERE and WHEN you will share your findings.
And do so proudly – sharing the impact of your work is all part of establishing your legacy!
Visualize your communication path towards impact that matters – the final steps in your evaluation journey. Your evaluation story is your ‘communication challenge’. By following the key actions for this step, you will:
- explore who you need to communicate your story to;
- determine how to extract that story and share it and assess what support you need;
- strategize how to translate your story into formats that connect with the people who need to hear your story; and
- execute your communications strategy.
When and how are findings best shared with our stakeholders?
Depending on the stakeholders and their needs, evaluation findings can be shared at regular intervals throughout the evaluation, as well as at the end.
Presentations of information should be organized based on the stakeholders’ needs. One way to determine this is to review the questions posed by different groups when the evaluation was just getting underway and presenting findings accordingly.
Choose a presentation format appropriate to a particular group’s background knowledge and role in the evaluation. Possible formats include a written report or a short summary statement (such as an executive summary, memo, or letter); an oral report, workshop, or presentation; film or video, photo essays, wall charts, or displays; graphs and visuals; media releases; and representative graphics that can be shared on your website and social media platforms.