Toolkit
  1. INTRODUCTION TO THE TOOLKIT

  2. INTRODUCTION TO EVALUATION

  3. PLAN YOUR EVALUATION

  4. IMPLEMENT YOUR EVALUATION

Who Are Your Stakeholders?

You and others who have a "stake" in the program will want to know more about your program and its effectiveness.

Directly related to your program, there are three primary types of stakeholders who should be represented in the evaluation process:

  1. People who support and carry out the program (e.g., collaborative partners, administrators, managers, staff).
  2. People served or affected by the program (e.g., clients, families, program participants, other service providers, partner organizations).
  3. Decision-makers or people who are in a position to create change, take action, or decide funding based on evaluation findings (e.g., leadership/governance boards; funding agencies or organizations; policy makers at the organization, local, state, and national levels).

In addition to these primary stakeholders, other groups may have an interest in your program and its impact. For example:

  • Local, state, and regional coalitions
  • State or local health departments and boards of health
  • Universities and other educational institutions
  • Health care systems
  • Community organizations, grassroots advocates
  • Privately-owned businesses and business associations
  • Faith-based organizations
  • Law enforcement
  • Private citizens
  • Media

It may be beneficial to engage some of these other stakeholder in different parts of the evaluation process. For example, you might engage local health departments in your data collection efforts (Step 4) or engage the media in sharing your results (Step 6).

Northwest Center for Public Health Practice (2011). Program evaluation in environmental health.