2009 NTC Preview: Karen Michaelson on Evaluation

As nonprofits, we're focused on action, all the time. We want to be out in the field, serving clients, all the time. It's go, go, go for the mission, all the time.

Time is a luxury we don't have in our line of work -- which is why I think so many of us resist evaluation. Why would you reflect on how you feed people when you could just go feed people?

Of course, we know better. Evaluation helps us do our work better, and we all want to do our work better. The trick for our sector is going to be moving evaluation from that thing you do when you can force yourself to sit down for a few minutes to that thing that happens as you do your work.

As Executive Director at Tincan, Karen Michaelson has had lots of practice. At the NTC, she'll share her experiences at her session, "Evaluating Outcomes: Real Techniques for Measuring Civic Engagement and Technology Fluency".