Evaluation of international and non-governmental organizations’ communication activities: A 15 year systematic review

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to understand how intergovernmental organizations and international non-governmental organizations have evaluated their communication activities and adhered to principles of evaluation methodology from 1995–2010 based on a systematic review of available evaluation reports (N = 46) and guidelines (N = 9). Most evaluations were compliant with principle 1 (defining communication objectives), principle 2 (combining evaluation methods), principle 4 (focusing on outcomes) and principle 5 (evaluating for continued improvement). Compliance was least with principle 3 (using a rigorous design) and principle 6 (linking to organizational goals). Evaluation was found not to be integrated, adopted widely or rigorously in these organizations.

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Blogs, mash-ups and wikis – new tools for evaluating event objectives: A case study on the LIFT06 conference in Geneva

This case study examines the evaluation of the impact of a major conference on its participants. Combining traditional research methods and the experimental use of new technological tools such as wikis, blogs and mash-ups, the author designs and tests a framework for event evaluation. Through analysing the data collected, the author shows to what extent the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of participants was influenced by their participation in the LIFT06 conference. The limitations of this model and suggested future research are also discussed.

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Pathways to Use of Communication Campaigns’ Evaluation Findings Within International Organizations

Abstract: This article presents a study on the pathways and processes regarding the use of evaluation findings of communication campaigns from two international organizations, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Several years after the completion of the campaigns and their evaluations, our research identified 28 instances of use and six instances of non-use of the evaluation results, of which the large majority being surprising in nature.

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