Impact evaluation is a type of evaluation that assesses the long-term effects of a program, event, or activity on its intended beneficiaries. It aims to determine if the program, event, activity, or intervention caused the observed changes and to what extent. This involves establishing a causal link between the program, event, or activity and the intended outcome, which is often referred to as causal attribution or causal inference. Impact evaluations are crucial for understanding whether interventions are achieving their intended goals and for informing future decisions about resource allocation and program design. 

Impact evaluations should be developed during program planning.  Program planning should follow the identification of a community need. The community need should be expressed as a problem, issue, need, or condition. Extension’s response to the community need should be an educational program, event, activity, or resource targeting a specific target audience or population. Identifying community partners who can collaborate with 4-H Youth Development on the response is a valuable way to expand programmatic outreach and access resources that the partner may have.

Impact evaluation has several key aspects. Understanding these aspects helps the 4-H Youth Development Professional plan the evaluation method that is best suited to the program, event, or activity and the specific target audience.

Causal Inference:

Impact evaluations focus on determining whether the observed changes are caused by the program, event, or activity, rather than other factors.  Impact evaluations aim to establish a causal relationship between the program, event, activity, or intervention and the observed changes, determining to what extent the program, event, or activity caused the observed changes in outcomes. 

Focus on Outcomes: 

While other evaluations consider inputs, outputs, and initial outcomes, impact evaluations focus on the longer-term results and broader effects of a program, event, or activity on people's lives, including social, economic, and environmental change.

Control Group:

A core concept in impact evaluation is a control group – what would have happened to the target audience if the program, event, or activity had not been conducted?  A key challenge in impact evaluation is creating a comparison group that did not receive the intervention but is otherwise like the group that did. Experimental designs, such as randomized controlled trials are often considered the "gold standard" for establishing this comparison; however, various quasi-experimental designs and non-experimental approaches are also employed and are more easily utilized in 4-H Youth Development.

Intended and Unintended Outcomes:

Impact evaluations consider both the intended positive outcomes and any potential unintended consequences, which could be either positive or negative. 

Attribution:

Identifying the specific contribution of the program, event, or activity and the specific effects it made on the observed changes, distinguishing it from other factors. 

Methods:

Impact evaluations in 4-H Youth Development utilize various methods, including quasi-experimental designs and statistical techniques, to establish causality and measure impact. However, impact can only be shown using multiple evaluation methods administered over time.

Mixed Methods: 

Impact evaluations often benefit from using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of the program, event, or activity. Qualitative data can provide depth and context, while quantitative data provides measurable outcomes and statistical significance.

Impact evaluation is important for several reasons, including accountability, learning, allocating resources, evidence-based decision making, making policy decisions, and program improvement. This is especially true if the program is replicated.

Accountability:

Impact evaluations hold programs accountable by demonstrating their effectiveness and impact on the clientele or target audience. Impact evaluations increase accountability to funders and stakeholders by demonstrating program effectiveness and outcomes.

Learning:

Impact evaluations provide valuable insights into what works and makes a difference, what isn’t effective, and help to understand the reasons why. This information informs and guides future program design and implementation. 

Allocating Resources:

By identifying effective programs, events, or activities, impact evaluations can guide decisions about where to allocate resources for maximum impact. Competition for resources is fierce; impact evaluations document the reasons for either continuing, modifying, or discontinuing programs based on their effectiveness and impact on the target audience or clientele. We can no longer continue to devote resources to ineffective programs, events, or activities simply because they’ve always been conducted.

Evidence-Based Decision-Making: 

Impact evaluations provide data to inform decisions about program design, resource allocation, and policy choices.

Making Policy Decisions:

Impact evaluations provide evidence to support or refute the effectiveness of policies, informing policy decisions and promoting evidence-based policymaking. A good example is the inclusion of communications, leadership, and civic engagement core experiences into every 4-H program, event, or activity.  These core experiences were identified by Kentucky 4-H Alumni as the most valuable life skills  with the greatest long term impact that they developed during their 4-H participation.

Program Improvement:

Impact evaluations can identify areas where programs can be improved to enhance their effectiveness and efficiency.  Impact evaluations should be utilized when a need exists to understand the impacts produced by an ongoing program, event, or activity to improve its delivery. Impact evaluations should be used when there's a clear intended use for the findings to inform decisions about future interventions.

Examples of Impact Evaluation in Various Fields:

• Education: Evaluating educational programs to assess their impact on the clientele that participated and measure what was learned or what skills were developed.
• Health & Wellbeing: Assessing county-based health initiatives to determine their effect on the health and well-being of 4-H Youth Development clientele.
• Delivery Methods: Determining the most effective delivery methods for youth and adult audiences.

In summary, impact evaluation is a critical tool that enables 4-H Youth Development to understand the real effects of our programs, events, and activities, to improve effectiveness, and make informed decisions for positive change.