CAP Policy Analysis & Evaluation 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The 'theory of change' in philanthropic program design primarily serves to:
- Satisfy IRS reporting requirements
- Articulate the causal pathway from activities to long-term impact (Correct answer)
- Determine staff compensation benchmarks
- Allocate board governance responsibilities
Correct answer: Articulate the causal pathway from activities to long-term impact
A theory of change maps the logical steps and assumptions connecting program activities to the desired long-term outcomes.
Question 2: A donor-advised fund sponsor evaluates grantee impact using SROI (Social Return on Investment). A ratio of 4:1 means:
- Four grantees were funded per dollar spent
- Every $1 invested generates $4 in social value (Correct answer)
- The program costs four times more than projected
- Four volunteers are leveraged per paid staff member
Correct answer: Every $1 invested generates $4 in social value
SROI of 4:1 means that for every dollar invested, four dollars of social value are created, as monetized through proxy values.
Question 3: In designing a policy evaluation, 'triangulation' refers to:
- Using three funding streams to reduce dependency
- Combining multiple data sources or methods to validate findings (Correct answer)
- Forming a three-person advisory committee
- Calculating a three-year rolling average of outcomes
Correct answer: Combining multiple data sources or methods to validate findings
Triangulation strengthens evaluation credibility by cross-checking findings across different methods, sources, or evaluators.
Question 4: Which policy analysis tool is specifically designed to identify the minimum condition under which a policy remains beneficial?
- SWOT analysis
- Break-even analysis
- Sensitivity analysis (Correct answer)
- Stakeholder analysis
Correct answer: Sensitivity analysis
Sensitivity analysis tests how outcomes change under varying assumptions, revealing the threshold at which a policy stops being cost-effective.
Question 5: A foundation wants to assess whether its early childhood literacy grants changed reading proficiency rates. The most rigorous design would be:
- Post-only survey of grantees
- Pre-post comparison without control group
- Randomized controlled trial with waitlist control (Correct answer)
- Expert panel review
Correct answer: Randomized controlled trial with waitlist control
A randomized controlled trial with a waitlist control provides the strongest evidence of causation by randomly assigning participants to treatment and control groups.
Question 6: Which of the following best describes 'summative evaluation' in the context of philanthropic programming?
- Evaluation designed to improve ongoing program delivery
- Assessment of overall program effectiveness conducted at or after completion (Correct answer)
- Annual financial audit by an independent CPA
- Beneficiary feedback collected during intake
Correct answer: Assessment of overall program effectiveness conducted at or after completion
Summative evaluation judges a program's overall effectiveness and value, typically after it concludes or at a major milestone.
Question 7: When a philanthropic advisor recommends using 'comparable group design,' the comparison group is selected by:
- Random assignment from the same pool
- Matching on key characteristics to the treatment group (Correct answer)
- Choosing a group from a different country
- Selecting the highest-performing similar program
Correct answer: Matching on key characteristics to the treatment group
Comparable group (matched comparison) design selects non-participants who resemble participants on observable characteristics to approximate a control group.
CAP Policy Analysis & Evaluation 3
The 'theory of change' in philanthropic program design primarily serves to: