Music 4 U changes the lives of young people and their families through inclusive performing arts classes, enabling them to experience a tailored learning experience in a supportive, uplifting and inspiring environment.
Music 4 U received evaluation support from ESS, paid for by The National Lottery Community Fund, in order to improve:
- how they collect and store evaluation data
- how they evaluate to maintain or enhance the difference the project makes for participants
- how to tell their story to funders and stakeholders
Music 4 U staff attended our Let’s Evaluate! workshops, received tailored support and attended the “Stats and Stories” Webinar.
This range of support helped Music 4 U get to grips with evaluation, and got them all on the same page!
What difference did we make?
Staff from Music 4 U reported improvements to their understanding and knowledge of how to write outcomes and indicators, use different methods and tools to collect evidence of outcomes, and analyse and report on outcomes achieved!
Previously, Music 4 U’s evaluation had been made to satisfy funder requirements, however after support they devised an evaluation plan that was useful for them.
“Our team now talks about outcomes and evaluation as part of our everyday delivery. We are all on the same page and working towards the same goal. Honestly, it’s priceless what we learned!”
What did we learn?
There can be real benefit in having more than one person from an organisation attend the workshops.
Also, there is value in having a combination of types of evaluation support. In this case, Music 4 U were able to start their evaluation plan after attending the workshops, and then use tailored support to improve and finalise it!
Do you need help with your evaluation plan?
Our principles for good evaluation can help you to judge if you are happy with your evaluation. They are used within this story to highlight the principle that is being demonstrated:
– Good evaluation should be used by you
See below for the case-study this story is based on:
Case Study: Music 4 U
This case study is about how a range of evaluation support helped Music 4 U get to grips with evaluation, and got them all on the same page.
