How Do You Evaluate Systems Change? Guide

Systems change has received much attention in recent years, as grantmakers have increasingly set out to change underlying conditions that hold systemic challenges in place. There are many approaches to evaluating systems change. This document guides programs through the steps to selecting an evaluation approach, including defining the system you are trying to shift, articulating a set of questions that will help you understand how change is happening within the system, determining what approaches have the capacity to surface changes and shifts in the system, and using the evaluation findings as a catalyst for learning and decision making.