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Budgeting for Evaluation: A Critical Step in the Process


 

 In addition to working on the budget for tactics for our communication plan I was also responsible for working on the budget for evaluation. Budgeting for evaluation may not be the most exciting portion of this project but it is incredibly vital to long-term success. Evaluation is critical to see if our communication plan made a difference and reached the goals we set out to achieve. This is especially valuable to show funders and project partner. Evaluation helps you determine if your project was successful and if it is evaluation data can be useful for attracting more funding sources for future endeavors.

Evaluation is especially important for our group’s topic because the reason we were drawn to the topic of HPV-related cancers in men who have sex with men aged 18-26 because very little has been done before on this topic in this population. We need to evaluate the success of our program in order to understand what messages and tactics are effective with our different groups of focus. The evaluation data could be critical for launching and funding even more interventions focused on decreasing the incidence of HPV-related cancer among men who have sex with men in Harlem.

It is so important to budget for evaluation early in the planning process so as to ensure the time and resources needed are available for a thorough and effective evaluation. It is really difficult to find room in the budget for evaluation once the program is already in motion. 

- Holly

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