Evaluation

VELUX FOUNDATION understands evaluation as the systematic collection and analysis of data about activities, projects and programmes. This can include quantitative data such as questionnaires, registry information, tests and measurements, or qualitative data such as interviews, observations or document analysis.

VELUX FOUNDATION distinguishes between internal evaluation, i.e. the projects’ ongoing monitoring and evaluation of achieved goals and results, and external evaluation, i.e. an evaluation of a project or programme conducted by an external evaluator.

VELUX FOUNDATION evaluates when it creates value. That is, where the evaluation can answer questions relevant to the foundation, to the activities, projects, programmes and/or applicant environments. In some cases, the projects’ own internal evaluations may be sufficient, while in other cases, larger and interdisciplinary evaluations may be needed.

The foundation’s purpose of conducting evaluations is twofold: to learn from activities conducted with the aim of improving the quality of individual supported projects in the future, and to gather and document results and impact across the foundation’s programmes.

Evaluation is intended to contribute to:

• Creating a knowledge base for dialogue and mutual learning within the foundation and the grant environments on how the stated objectives can best be achieved.
• Strengthening the foundation’s knowledge and decision-making basis for developing strategies and programme areas, enhancing the implementation of programmes and initiatives and improving guidance for applicants and grantees.
• Enhancing the quality and analytical capacity of the projects to continually improve their efforts.
• Providing the board, application environments and decision-makers insight into which efforts are particularly promising and the framework conditions required to achieve the desired changes.

The foundation takes an early and active stance on whether and how supported activities and projects should be evaluated. Where it is appropriate for a project or activity to be externally evaluated, evaluation questions, design and data collection should be taken into account at project start-up.

Initially, the foundation and the projects are the primary users of the evaluations. As there are multiple stakeholders who can benefit from the evaluations, they are organised to address questions relevant to VELUX FOUNDATION, grantees or potential applicants.

The foundation aims to promote robust evaluation environments and usually tenders out larger external evaluation tasks for the foundation’s programmes, allowing multiple stakeholders to submit bids.

In collaboration with grantees, the foundation publishes relevant evaluations and studies on this website. The foundation aims to be transparent about the knowledge produced in evaluations and studies.

The foundation’s grant areas have different purposes, target groups strategies, etc. How both internal and external evaluations are conducted and used will vary from area to area. It is important that the evaluation approach aligns with the area’s characteristics, strategy, data structure and the evaluation culture among relevant disciplines. Therefore, a description of the area’s evaluation approach can be found under each grant area.