Demonstrating the value of community development: An inclusive evaluation capacity building approach in a non-profit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisation
| Published date | 01 December 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1035719X18803718 |
| Author | Sharon Babyack,Tom Layton,Doyen Radcliffe,Alison Rogers |
| Date | 01 December 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1035719X18803718
Evaluation Journal of Australasia
2018, Vol. 18(4) 234 –255
© The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/1035719X18803718
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Demonstrating the value of
community development: An
inclusive evaluation capacity
building approach in a non-
profit Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander organisation
Alison Rogers
Centre for Program Evaluation, The University of Melbourne, Australia
Doyen Radcliffe, Sharon Babyack
and Tom Layton
Indigenous Community Volunteers, Australia
Abstract
Inclusive, culturally safe, appropriate and relevant ways of evaluating that contribute to
better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders that can be communicated
to a wide audience are urgently needed. An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
non-profit community development organisation, Indigenous Community Volunteers
(ICV), has transformed towards this goal by intentionally building evaluation capacity
over the past 4 years. ICV now incorporates participatory monitoring and evaluation
approaches into the community development practices of the organisation to improve
measurement and capture outcomes with communities. The principles of inclusion,
flexibility, empowerment, ownership and effective communication were essential to
the transformation. This article shares how ICV developed evaluation capacity in an
inclusive and culturally appropriate way and the results of an independent assessment
of the value of the process. ICV’s journey of change and the methodology used to
make the assessment may be useful for other organisations or individuals working with
community development organisations.
Corresponding author:
Alison Rogers, Centre for Program Evaluation, The University of Melbourne, 100 Leicester Street,
Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia.
Email: Arogers1@student.unimelb.edu.au
803718EVJ0010.1177/1035719X18803718Evaluation Journal of AustralasiaRogers et al.
research-article2018
Article
Rogers et al. 235
Keywords
community development, evaluation, evaluation capacity building, Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander, non-profit
Introduction
The sustainability of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander non-profit organisation
called ‘Indigenous Community Volunteers’ (ICV) is dependent upon being able to
communicate how its community development approach is making a difference to the
lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. The approach is based on the princi-
ples of working where invited, respecting community ownership and working col-
laboratively to support the changes desired by the communities they are in partnership
with. Financial sustainability is at the forefront of ICV’s objectives, along with a
desire to influence policy.
Over a period of 4 years, ICV implemented an evaluation capacity building (ECB)
approach, defined as the ‘intentional work to continuously create and sustain overall
organisational processes that make quality evaluation and its uses routine’ (Stockdill,
Baizerman, & Compton, 2002, p. 14). Evaluation capacity was intended to be devel-
oped in an inclusive and culturally appropriate way with the overall purpose of being
able to use monitoring and evaluation (M&E) data to demonstrate the value of com-
munity development.
This article describes how the ECB approach was implemented in practice. First,
we review the literature on community development and evaluation in this context.
Second, we describe how the ethical guidelines were upheld. Third, understanding the
organisational context and community development principles and detailing the ECB
approach. Fourth, developing the methodology involving the engagement of an inde-
pendent researcher to answer the question: ‘How is ICV using data to demonstrate the
value of a community development approach?’, with findings subsequently shared.
Finally, the discussion highlights how the process and the tool were used to make the
assessment and frame the recommendations. Consideration is also given to how the
tool may be useful for other organisations undertaking a self-assessment or the poten-
tial for other researchers to adapt the tool for their purposes.
Background
Community development organisations are focused on supporting community-driven
approaches and local solutions. According to Hunt (2010), these diverse organisations
are ‘articulating Indigenous development goals (social, cultural and economic) and
responding to them directly, rather than responding to externally-driven development
agendas’ (p. 1). Community development organisations are also able to provide oppor-
tunities for skill development, income generation, culture sustaining activities and
mentoring and leadership initiatives (Hunt, 2010).
Government and private philanthropic funding for holistic Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander-led community development initiatives is difficult to source particularly
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