Local Government Professionals WA: Evaluation Framework and Toolkit

The Centre for Social Impact UWA partnered with the Community Development Network (CDN) of Local Government Professionals WA to create an Evaluation Framework and Toolkit for use by Community Development Officers working within local government areas to help them more meaningfully measure, report and showcase the impact of their community development responsibilities.

The guide provides evaluation basics that can be effectively used within many different settings and is an important step towards creating a more systemic approach to evaluation across the state-wide network of CDOs.

The idea is to enable CDOs and managers to understand evaluation foundations, how to apply the basics in a resource constrained environment, and to develop a shared language and understanding about what is possible when evaluating their work.

The guide consists of two parts:


An evaluation framework providing:

  1. An overview of key things to consider when planning and managing an evaluation
  2. A foundational approach to undertaking evaluations for community development purposes in local government settings
  3. A discussion of main approaches to evaluation and methods that might be most suitable to a real-world local government context

An evaluation toolkit providing:

  1. Guidance on implementing the evaluation cycle and using different evaluation tools
  2. Templates and resources