Impact Evaluation

ANA conducts impact evaluation visits with one-third of its current grantees each year, amounting to approximately 70 percent of all ending grants. Visits occur during the three months prior to or after a project’s end date. Usually lasting a full work day, impact visits provide ANA the opportunity to meet with project staff and beneficiaries in order to collect qualitative and quantitative information.  

The purpose of the impact visit is threefold:

1. To assess the impact of ANA funding on Native American communities, in accordance with the Native American Programs Act of 1974 (42 USC 2991) Section 811 (42 USC 2992), and the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993;
2. To increase knowledge about the successes and challenges of ANA grantees, improving ANA service delivery; and
3. To increase transparency and collaboration by sharing the unique stories of ANA grantees with native communities and the public.

ANA utilizes information collected to bolster its project planning and development, pre-application, and post-award training and technical assistance offerings to tribes and Native American organizations so that applicants understand the common pitfalls of ANA projects and are better equipped to develop, and later implement, realistic project work plans. 

Learn more about impact evaluation visits

After each impact visit season, ANA analyzes data collected to generate a Report to Congress on the Impact and Effectiveness of ANA Projects.  The congressional impact report includes:

• An executive summary that presents key data and findings from all projects visited; and
• A two-page report for each project visited that consists of a snapshot of key data from the particular project, a brief background of the grantee, and a narrative of the project’s purpose, objectives, outcomes, and impact on the community.