The Michigan Opera Theatre (MOT) entered into a partnership with JFM Consulting Group (JFM), a local planning and evaluation consulting firm, to assist MOT in developing the organizations capacity to monitor and evaluate its programs. Over a period of several months, JFM worked closely with key MOT staff to review the organization’s current capacity to evaluate its opera and dance programs. It was determined that one area in which MOT could benefit from additional support was data collection. In particular, MOT was in need of data collection tools and instruments that can be used across a range of programming moving forward.

One important aspect of the capacity building partnership between MOT and JFM involved the development of a longer-term, three-year framework for monitoring progress toward strategic organizational goals. This framework, as illustrated in the Action and Change Rubrics presented in this toolkit, provides a process and structure for measuring the results or outcomes that MOT expects to achieve now and in the years ahead.

The toolkit is divided into two main sections. Section One provides an overview of evaluation, including a description of the types of evaluation, the evaluation process, data collection methods, and a comparison of the benefits and challenges of internal vs. external evaluation. Section Two provides a number of evaluation tools to support MOT’s evaluation activities, including the Action and Change Rubrics to guide the organization’s evaluation efforts. Several survey instruments are provided as well to assist MOT in collecting data from visitors, partners, staff, volunteers and students. This toolkit was developed drawing from a wide range of resources, listed in the Appendix, which also includes a glossary of key evaluation terms and an evaluation readiness checklist. It is anticipated that MOT will use this toolkit on an ongoing basis in the years ahead as a resource for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of its strategies, programs and activities.