Carrying out effective evaluation of your project is important. It helps you to measure it’s impact, but when it’s done well can also help you to plan your project; the evaluation needs to start at the beginning of the project. The way in which you decide to evaluate your project will depend on the methodology you’re using, who you’re engaging with, and how long-term it is. Funders often require you to report on the impact of your engagement, and it’s increasingly important for REF.
Here are some useful resources about evaluation of public engagement:
Evaluation Toolkit (Queen Mary University London)
This toolkit (which can be downloaded) has examples of using different approaches for evaluation
Evaluating Public Engagement (NCCPE)
This gives a good overview of why evaluation matters, and how to carry it out
Planning your Impact (Fast Track Impact)
Resources to help create impactful engagement
Evaluation Support Scotland resources
Lots of excellent resrouces created for and with the third sector in Scotland