Advantages of Increasing Evaluation Capacity in Nonprofits: How Principles of Process Use Can Inform Development and Strengthen a Nonprofit’s Position in its External Landscape

Abstract

Within this paper I explore how process use, or the intentional engagement of stakeholders in the creation and implementation of an evaluation, can increase an organization’s capacity for evaluative inquiry. Here, I share the impact of employing process use principles to a specific evaluation conducted within Full Spectrum Features (FSF), a small film production nonprofit based in Chicago, IL. I begin with a comprehensive literature review of process use theories and practices and continue by exploring the application of relevant principles to an evaluation conducted to assess the effectiveness of FSF’s educational tool and short film, The Orange Story. This exploration of translating theory to practice focuses primarily on the design phase and initial data collection process; the majority of the data analysis occurred outside the timeline for this paper. Throughout the Theory to Practice section, I incorporate components of the evaluation design, as well as insights from FSF’s internal evaluation team, to provide clarity and context. I conclude with a discussion of the challenges and successes of integrating principles of process use into a small nonprofit, then explore the broader implications of how FSF can use evaluation to strengthen their position in external landscapes. While FSF’s capacity for evaluative inquiry will serve as my primary focus, this endeavor cannot ignore the role systematic oppression has played in the erasure of underrepresented stories, in both the past and present. FSF strives to produce materials that have the fortitude to not only insert themselves into the psyche of dominant cultural spaces but to live there, to thrive there and to challenge this space indefinitely. Given this truth, if used intentionally, evaluative inquiry has the potential to increase FSF’s legibility in spaces that have historically excluded non-dominant perspectives and ways of knowing.