Internal evaluation in a self-reflective organization: one nonprofit agency's model

Nonprofit agencies face the evaluation dilemma of how to adequately assess outcomes and build and evaluate the program from within using limited resources. This article presents an alternative evaluation/management model for nonprofits that calls for an expanded role for the internal evaluator. For the past 5 years, a trained internal evaluator has conducted on-going evaluations of multifaceted service programs while simultaneously serving on the leadership team of a nonprofit agency. The self-reflective nature of the agency enhances evaluation use and organizational learning, but creates unique conditions under which to conduct evaluation studies.