prove it!
"I know that half my advertising works, but I don’t know which half", complained the first Lord Leverhulme, the soap baron. Neighbourhood improvement projects are similar. We know that some of them work, but we don’t know which ones.
In partnership with Groundwork and Barclays plc, nef has developed a method to evaluate community regeneration projects that engages all those who are interested in improving their surroundings. The principle behind prove it! is to make data collection part of the process of regeneration itself. People choose indicators from a core set designed to get beyond measuring just the inputs and outputs of projects. Many of the overriding aims of a project (for example, improving the social capital of a community) are achieved by involving local people in its evaluation as well as its delivery.
The spirit of prove it! is about keeping evaluation simple, manageable and possible within the limited resources that small–scale projects have available to them. An approach involving data collection methods that are fun and easy to use can encourage ownership of the project and make it more likely that evaluation becomes part of the culture of an organisation, rather than a burden.
Our experience tells us that prove it! can add real value, build capacity of local groups and people, and can demonstrate impact on quality of life.
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