Grant Writing Project Evaluation and Metrics 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A funder specifies a 5% administrative cap. How does this constraint affect evaluation budgeting?
- Evaluation costs must come entirely from the administrative cap
- Evaluation costs are typically coded as direct program costs, not administrative overhead (Correct answer)
- The cap eliminates the need for an evaluation plan
- Evaluation staff salaries must be excluded from the budget entirely
Correct answer: Evaluation costs are typically coded as direct program costs, not administrative overhead
Evaluation activities directly tied to program delivery are generally categorized as direct costs, not administrative overhead, protecting them from the cap.
Question 2: Which of the following best defines 'attribution' as a challenge in program evaluation?
- Difficulty in getting participants to sign consent forms
- The problem of proving your program—rather than other factors—caused the observed change (Correct answer)
- Correctly citing data sources in a report
- Assigning credit for writing the grant proposal
Correct answer: The problem of proving your program—rather than other factors—caused the observed change
Attribution is the challenge of isolating your program's effect from other external influences that may have contributed to the outcome.
Question 3: A social services agency collects client data using paper forms and enters it manually monthly. What evaluation risk does this create?
- Too much data for funders to review
- Data entry errors and delays that compromise reporting accuracy and timeliness (Correct answer)
- Violation of federal data-sharing agreements
- Inability to conduct a randomized controlled trial
Correct answer: Data entry errors and delays that compromise reporting accuracy and timeliness
Manual data entry processes increase the risk of transcription errors, missing records, and delayed reporting that can undermine evaluation credibility.
Question 4: A funder requires a 'return on investment (ROI)' calculation. What does this measure?
- How much money the organization saved by hiring volunteers
- The financial value of program benefits compared to the cost of the program (Correct answer)
- The percentage of the budget spent in the first quarter
- The number of clients who became financially independent
Correct answer: The financial value of program benefits compared to the cost of the program
ROI compares the monetized value of program outcomes (e.g., reduced hospitalizations, increased earnings) to the cost of running the program.
Question 5: When writing evaluation questions for a grant proposal, which approach is most strategic?
- List as many questions as possible to show thoroughness
- Focus evaluation questions directly on the proposed outcomes and funder priorities (Correct answer)
- Use only questions from previous grant reports
- Limit questions to those that can be answered with existing secondary data
Correct answer: Focus evaluation questions directly on the proposed outcomes and funder priorities
Evaluation questions should be deliberately tied to the program's stated outcomes and what the funder cares about measuring.
Question 6: A program uses 'most significant change' (MSC) as an evaluation technique. This method primarily collects:
- Standardized test score data
- Stories from participants and staff about the most important changes they experienced (Correct answer)
- Administrative cost variance reports
- Random sample survey responses
Correct answer: Stories from participants and staff about the most important changes they experienced
MSC is a participatory qualitative technique that collects narratives about significant changes, then facilitates group selection of the most meaningful stories.
Question 7: A grantee must report 'unduplicated count' of clients served. What does this mean?
- Total service contacts across all program activities
- Each unique individual counted only once, regardless of how many times they received services (Correct answer)
- Clients who received the full program curriculum only
- Clients served in the final quarter of the grant year
Correct answer: Each unique individual counted only once, regardless of how many times they received services
An unduplicated count ensures each person is counted once, preventing inflation of reach figures when individuals receive multiple services.
Grant Writing Project Evaluation and Metrics 4
A funder specifies a 5% administrative cap.
How does this constraint affect evaluation budgeting?