Grants program evaluation: process and benefits
Regular program evaluation of grants offered by NSW Government agencies helps ensure grant funding is being carefully allocated to achieve worthwhile outcomes for the community.
All grants offered by NSW Government agencies are subject to a process called ‘program evaluation’. The process collects and analyses information to assess a grant’s
- appropriateness
- efficiency
- effectiveness
- net social benefits.
Program evaluation of grants is important to
- find out if a grant is on track to meet the objectives and priorities set by government
- determine if any improvements are needed
- identify outcomes and benefits
- help design future grants.
Types of evaluation
There are 3 main types of program evaluation.
- Process evaluation considers
- how the grant is delivered
- whether the grant has been implemented as intended
- any issues arising from implementation.
- Outcome evaluation examines how an initiative is leading to change.
- Economic evaluation measures the value for money and net social benefit of an initiative.
How grants are evaluated
The NSW Treasury Policy and Guidelines: Evaluation sets out mandatory requirements, recommendations and guidance for agencies to plan for and conduct program evaluations.
These guidelines state that agencies must
- plan for monitoring and evaluation
- tailor evaluation to the size and strategic significance risk of a grant
- report on grant costs, outcomes, benefits and value for money.
NSW Government agencies should
- evaluate grants according to their value, risk and contribution to NSW Government objectives
- schedule evaluations of the grant (especially where the grant is ongoing or long term)
- scale evaluation to the size and risk of the grant
- allocate enough resources for evaluation
- evaluate grant programs before extending, expanding or initiating new grant opportunities.
Publishing program evaluation
Evaluations should be transparent. Agencies should proactively and publicly release the findings of program evaluations, unless there is an overriding public interest against disclosure of the information.
As well as providing information on all grant opportunities NSW Government agencies must publish evaluations of grants on the NSW Government Grants and Funding Finder.
Further information
The Grants Administration Guide outlines how NSW Government agencies should offer and process grants.