Thinking About Nonprofit Evaluation as Affected by Time
From Paul T. Hogan, writing for Nonprofit Quarterly:
The other is outside influence — how many other things going on in the lives of the targeted populations are likely to influence the outcome of an intervention? If an organization is doing an afterschool nutrition program for kids, and at the same time, the school is doing a major push toward good food in the cafeterias, how is that accounted for in the measurement of the program? Or a physical activity program offered by an organization during football season, when the NFL is heavily promoting its Play60 program on television? Or a poet in a classroom during National Poetry Month, as opposed to other times?