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You may want to consider hiring an outside consultant for your project evaluation if one or more of the following situations applies to you:
- there is conflict or disagreement about the effectiveness of a project – a more objective, external view point may help in assessing results;
- staff require further training and support to assess project outcomes – the expertise of a professional researcher/evaluator can make the process easier by providing guidance and capacity-building;
- assessing outcomes is too complex or time-consuming for staff.
When selecting a consultant:
- Clarify the scope of the consultant’s role – to help staff to do the work, or to take on the day-to-day project evaluation tasks?
- Define your preferred evaluation approach.
- Interview consultants, look at samples of their work and check references.
A checklist of questions to ask your consultant:
- Does the consultant have solid evaluation experience of the type you require?
- Can s/he support staff to build their evaluation capacity?
- Does s/he understand results-based approaches to evaluation?
- Is his or her philosophy and approach re: evaluation and research compatible with yours?
- Does s/he have a good understanding of rural economic development programs?
- What does s/he charge? Can you afford this?
- How busy is s/he? Will s/he be able to set aside for you the time you require?
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