Book Review: Nonprofit program evaluation made simple: Get your data. Show your impact. Improve your programs
| Author | Kwadwo Adusei-Asante |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1035719X231151245 |
| Published date | 01 March 2023 |
| Date | 01 March 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Book Review
Evaluation Journal of Australasia
2023, Vol. 23(1) 62–64
© The Author(s) 2023
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DOI: 10.1177/1035719X231151245
journals.sagepub.com/home/evj
Nonprofit program evaluation
made simple: Get your data.
Show your impact. Improve
your programs
C. Smith (2021). Nonprofit program evaluation made simple: Get your data. Show your impact. Improve
your programs. Portland, OR, USA. ISBN: 978-0-578-80388-3.
Reviewed by: Kwadwo Adusei-Asante,Edith Cowan University - Churchlands Campus,
Joondalup, WA, AU
I am an academic who also works with not-for-profit organisations in Australia and in
low-income countries to build their program evaluation systems. I have observed in the
last two decades that interest in program evaluation and outcomes measurement within
the not-for-profit sector has heightened around the world. Largely driven by funders,
governments, politicians, academics, civil society bodies (including the media) and
boards, the trend is about demonstrating the difference the sector makes in people and
local communities they serve. As a result, books on how not-for-profit organisations
can build their program evaluations culture and frameworks are opportune.
It is against this backdrop that I find Chari Smith’sNonprofit program evaluation
made simple: Get your data. Showyour impact. Improve your programs very timely. At
afirst glance, the book is not for evaluation theoreticians –it is practice-based at its core
providing readers with ‘step-by-step directions from the beginning of the evaluation
process to the end’. The book combines process and outcome evaluation and discusses
ideas on using data to improve program implementation and demonstrate overall
success and impact. It is written by a very experienced evaluation professional who has
worked in the industry for decades as a trainer and coach. The book comes with a link to
a companion website giving readers access to evaluation examples, case studies,
templates and processes: www.evaluationintoaction.com/getyourdata.
Smith’s book has four parts. In Part One, readers are introduced to the rudiments of
program evaluation. The section discusses the definition and key terminologies of
program evaluation as well as the need to embed program evaluation into the not-for-
profit organisational landscapes and culture. Smith dedicates six chapters to evaluation
planning in Part Two. The topics discussed include the importance of and formula for
defining measurable outcomes, how to create logic and impact models (which I reflect
on below), determining the methodology and timelines. Although Part Three has only
two chapters, it presents an in-depth methodical approach to managing program
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