Evaluations do require money. Many program managers and staff believe that it is unethical to use program or agency financial resources for an evaluation, because available funds should be spent on serving participants. However, it is more accurate to view money spent on evaluation as an investment in your program and in your participants, rather than as a diversion of funds available for participants. Evaluation is essential if you want to know whether your program is benefiting participants. Unfortunately, it is not possible to specify in this manual exactly how much money you will need to conduct your evaluation.
Costs also vary in accord with economic differences in communities and geographic locations.
Sometimes funders will establish a specific amount of grant money to be set aside for an evaluation. The amount usually ranges from 15 to 20 percent of the total funds allocated for the program. If the amount of money to be set aside for an evaluation is not specified by a funding agency, you may want to talk to other program managers in your community who have conducted evaluations. They may be able to tell you how much their evaluations cost and whether they were satisfied with what they got for their money. Although a dollar amount cannot be specified, it is possible to describe the kinds of information you can obtain from evaluations at different cost levels.