The Importance of Evaluation

Giving in Grace includes a detailed evaluation form and completion of this is strongly recommended. In truth, once a Giving in Grace programme is completed, there is an understandable need to relax and enjoy the fruits of a great deal of work, and the evaluation often becomes a casualty! However, an evaluation can more than repay the additional effort. The hard work has been done, the ask has been made and the response from the congregation can be measured in different ways: financial, attendance at small groups, return of response forms, anecdotal feedback and so on. All the raw material is there that will inform and shape the stewardship strategy of the church in the months and the years to come.

For example, one church discovered that there had been a strong response to Giving in Grace from the planned givers in the church, but that the response from the fringe had been lukewarm at best. Arguably a focus of future stewardship activity should be upon a sensitive renewal of the planned giving scheme in the church. Evaluation is critical in identifying those areas of giving where progress has been made and others where work still needs to be done. Without this awareness it will not be possible to determine the overall tone and emphasis of any Annual Review.

Where a full evaluation has not been completed, it is all the more important to reflect carefully on the achievements, learning and priorities that make up the first part of Section 1 of the Annual Review Document.