The Guidelines

Developed Using Meaningful Evaluation Practices

It is very important to know whether our primary prevention strategies are working. Evaluation is a critical tool to document and measure change and allow prevention staff to know if strategies are achieving the intended outcomes.
Evaluation that shows communities are making positive impacts will help garner continued support, secure and/or increase funding, and create more buy-in from stakeholders and community members.
Effective strategies incorporate evaluation practices from initial program design through implementation. Ongoing feedback helps programs adjust throughout implementation of the program.

Both quantitative (numerical data) and qualitative data (observational and descriptive data) are valuable when evaluating primary prevention strategies. Useful data can be collected through activity-based observation, creative arts, and storytelling.

Evaluation for Improvement: A Seven-Step Empowerment Evaluation Approach places an explicit emphasis on building the evaluation capacity of individuals and organizations so that evaluation is integrated into the organization’s day-to-day management processes.
The Activity Based Assessment: Integrating Evaluation into Prevention Curricula toolkit offers strategies for integrating evaluation into prevention programming.
The National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s Evaluation Toolkit provides tools and guidance for program implementers and those who support them. The toolkit includes information about outcomes and indicators; collecting, analyzing, and interpreting evaluation data; and more.