Strategic Evaluation: Relating Project Outputs and Outcomes

Strategic Evaluation
This section contains:
• guidance about conducting strategic evaluations examining the

relationship between project outputs and desired outcomes and the
expected impact of the project on community cohesion;
• advice on identifying and constructing good quantitative indicators and;
• suggested indicators for measuring impact on community cohesion.
Strategic Evaluation: Relating Project Outputs and

Outcomes
The main purpose of undertaking a strategic evaluation is develop a view
about the extent to which the project’s planned activities and outputs are likely
to contribute to its stated longer term outcomes. As such, a strategic
evaluation is not concerned with issues of implementation and delivery, but
seeks to answer two main questions:
• are the project’s activities and outputs causally linked to the desired
outcomes?
• what are the likely impacts of the project’s activities, outputs and
desired outcomes on community cohesion?
An initial strategic evaluation should be conducted as early as possible. If the

need for evaluation was recognised from the outset, then a strategic
evaluation will ideally take place before the project begins delivering activities.
This enables planned activities to be changed or supplemented if necessary,
in order to address:
• potential ‘missing links’ in the causal chain between planned activities,

outputs and outcomes and;
• potentially adverse impacts on community cohesion.
If evaluation has been built into the project’s activities at a later stage,
however, it is still worth undertaking a strategic evaluation, as this may
influence future practice. Periodically revisiting the strategic evaluation will
also be useful if the project’s activities or focus has shifted over time in
response to changing needs.
Some terms for strategic evaluation
There is no shortage of terms used to describe different elements of project
work and it is easy to get lost in a sea of jargon. When conducting a strategic
evaluation, however, there are a few terms and concepts worth knowing.
Most projects will have the following distinguishable elements:
• Project Inputs which are the resources and revenues invested in

running the project. Depending on the particular project, project inputs
may include volunteer time, skills, funds received, in-kind contributions,
matching funds, income generated revenue and capital assets.
• Project Activities which are the things the project does with its
resources and revenues. Projects engage in a vast range of activities,
of which a few of the possibilities are listed below:
o providing services to people;

o running educational and training courses;
o providing opportunities for people from different backgrounds to
interact;
o organising festivals, sporting and cultural events;
o enabling civic engagement and participation;
o providing services to specific types of organisation;
o providing leisure opportunities and;
o producing publications.
• Project Outputs are the immediate results achieved by the project.

As with project activities, projects can deliver a huge variety of
outputs. A few possibilities are listed below:
o people gaining qualifications;

o new participants in cultural and other sporting activities;
o improved access to information and resources;
o people and organisations receiving services;
o number of new jobs created;
o number of people engaged in challenging discrimination and
prejudice;
o increase in the proportion of people who say that they
regularly meet and talk with people from different ethnic
backgrounds.
• Project Outcomes are the project’s long-term goals and desired

improvements. Within Oldham Borough, the project’s long-term
goals and desired improvements may link with priorities in the Local
Area Agreement, the Community Cohesion Strategy, the
Community Strategy and Oldham Beyond. These might include
things such as:
o developing a highly-skilled and well-educated local
population;
o eliminating health inequalities;
o eliminating discrimination and harassment;
o good community relations throughout the Borough;
o eliminating poverty;
o avoidance of a low wage economy.
• Project Impacts on community cohesion include the project’s effects

on:
o inequalities;
o community relations across various domains of difference
including age, sexuality, disability, social background and ethnic
group;
o opportunities for meaningful social interaction between people
from similar and from different backgrounds;
o engagement in local democracy;
o involvement in social, political and cultural life;
o the fairness and transparency (and perceived fairness and
transparency) of service provision, access to services and
resource allocation.
Evaluating Causal Connections between Activities,

Outputs and Outcomes
The purpose of evaluating causal connections between activities, outputs and
outcomes, is to explore whether or not the project’s assumptions about the
likely outcomes and effects of its activities and outputs are well-founded. By
identifying places where the causal chain between activity, output and
outcome may potentially break down, the evaluator may play a role in
identifying supplementary activities which may improve the likelihood of the
project contributing to its desired outcomes. To do this, the evaluator should
consider:
• May the project’s activities have unplanned but predictable adverse

effects that impact on its ability to reach the desired outcome?
• Are there other factors that are likely to intervene between
achievement of outputs and the desired outcome?
Asking such questions will sometimes lead the project to broaden its remit or
examine possibilities for liaison and joint working with other organisations and
institutions.
Evaluating Strategic Impact on Community Cohesion

The purpose of evaluating strategic impact on community cohesion is to
examine the impact of the project’s outputs and desired outcomes (as distinct
from its planned activities and actual practice) on community cohesion. If the
Oldham M.B.C definition of community cohesion is used, relevant questions
may include:
• Who are the intended project participants or beneficiaries? Are some

groups within the project’s remit under-represented or likely to be
under-represented within the project?
• Does the project provide opportunities for people from different
backgrounds (socio-economic, ethnic group, age) to meet, talk and
interact?
• Does the project provide opportunities for people with similar
experiences or backgrounds to come together to build confidence and
challenge discrimination, harassment and prejudice?
• Does the project provide opportunities for people to learn about each
other?
• Is the project likely to increase or decrease existing tensions between
different groups of people (for example, intergenerational tensions,
interethnic tensions, social tensions)? Why? Remember that
sometimes an increase in community tensions is related to the efforts
of people who have experienced discrimination or prejudice to achieve
social justice and may not be a bad thing!
• Do the outputs and outcomes tend to reduce or increase existing
inequalities?
• Do the outputs and outcomes tend to accept or challenge existing
inequalities?
• Will the project’s outputs or outcomes address racism or other forms of
prejudice and discrimination?
• Will the project’s outputs or outcomes broaden access to decision-
making and engagement in local democracy?
• Will the project’s outputs or outcomes enable more people to
participate fully in cultural, social or economic life?
• How does the project connect with other projects and agencies in the
same area or the same field?
It is not necessary (or even necessarily desirable) for a project to seek to be

all things to all aspects of community cohesion. It is important, however, that
the project should have a clear understanding of potentially adverse impacts
on community cohesion, so that it is well-prepared to address these
effectively. Conversely, a clear description of potential benefits of the project
to community cohesion may enhance its value to potential funders.

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Strategic Evaluation

This section contains:

• guidance about conducting strategic evaluations examining the

Strategic Evaluation: Relating Project Outputs and

An initial strategic evaluation should be conducted as early as possible. If the

• potential ‘missing links’ in the causal chain between planned activities,

Most projects will have the following distinguishable elements:

• Project Inputs which are the resources and revenues invested in

o providing services to people;

• Project Outputs are the immediate results achieved by the project.

o people gaining qualifications;

• Project Outcomes are the project’s long-term goals and desired

• Project Impacts on community cohesion include the project’s effects

Evaluating Causal Connections between Activities,

• May the project’s activities have unplanned but predictable adverse

Evaluating Strategic Impact on Community Cohesion

• Who are the intended project participants or beneficiaries? Are some

It is not necessary (or even necessarily desirable) for a project to seek to be

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