There are many ways to evaluate conservation outreach efforts. Most often, people lean toward things they can measure with numbers: how many people attended events, social media engagement, or how many farmers adopted new practices. Behavior change often requires changing people’s perceptions, attitudes, or knowledge, which are measurable (see Survey Types for more information on this), but can also be captured through qualitative approaches. Interview, or more simply conversations, with members of your target audiences can be incredibly helpful at learning how they perceived your outreach efforts.
The worksheet below includes interview questions that you can incorporate into your evaluation efforts. These are just a start; you should feel free to incorporate additional questions that capture your desired outcomes. Also, it is often best to keep these interviews conversational, so it might be best to have a few guiding questions but allow the conversation to flow.
Download: Evaluation interviews