Download a report template:

Basic report template (DOC 51KB)

A basic evaluation report usually contains:

Cover page and title

Your title should describe your project. Add authors, dates and logos, and include a table of contents.

Executive summary

Some people will only read the executive summary — make sure it contains an overview of everything you want them to know. In less than two pages (if possible), summarise:

• your main findings
• lessons learned
• key recommendations.

Introduction

Briefly describe:

• project background and overview, including the timeframe, main stakeholders, and project goals
• why your activity is needed (you can cover this in detail in your evidence review)
• activity format.

About the evaluation

Describe your evaluation aims and objectives, including:

• key evaluation questions
• stakeholders
• evaluation team.

Outline your methods, including limitations.

Evidence review

Show the evidence you've collected that:

• shows why your activity is needed
• has informed your activity design and approach
• says your approach will reduce the incidence of sexual violence.

Findings

Use your key evaluation questions as sub-headings. For each question:

• illustrate what you found out
• use tables, charts and other graphics where appropriate
• add quotes where you have them.

Discussion

Interpret the findings — what changed? What didn't? What was expected? Unexpected?

Some reports combine the findings and discussion section.

Recommendations

Draw conclusions. Explain:

• what you found out that will inform the way you do things in the future
• any recommendations for others doing this type of work
• any wider recommendations you would like to make.

Don't forget to list your key recommendations in the executive summary.

Conclusion

Write a high-level summary of the success of your activity based on the evaluation findings.

When presenting data, check that you've:

• clearly described how data were collected and analysed
• accurately calculated relevant descriptive statistics and conducted appropriate statistical tests
• represented all of the most important findings, even if some results don't align with what you had hoped to see or present conflicting results
• considered possible sources of bias in your results (eg whether some stakeholders were better represented in your sample than others) and the limitations of your evaluation
• considered a range of possible explanations for your results (eg the influences of specific contexts, data collection methods, and stakeholder perspectives)
• compared your results with previous evaluations of your activity or evaluations of similar initiatives
• reported your key findings in a way that can be easily understood by funders, participants, and other key stakeholders.

Collecting data

Impact profiles

Impact profiles are brief (one or two page) narrative statements that summarise significant outcomes for a specific individual, family, or community. You can present an impact profile as a story, a poem, or a personal narrative.

Impact profiles are especially powerful tools for capturing richness and depth of users' experiences, and aim to communicate the personal stories behind the data in a readable and accessible fashion.

Writing an impact story about your work (DOC 49KB)

Case studies

Case studies are longer documents which focus on:

• impacts for individuals, families, and communities, and
• the methods and broader contextual factors affecting the programme and its evaluation.

Case study template (DOC 42KB)
Completed case study template (DOC 111KB)

Confidentiality

When producing impact profiles or case studies, it's important to:

• allow participants to review how they are represented and the information about them you've included
• ensure participants' anonymity (when they want it and it's possible to do so).

Ethics, confidentiality and disclosure