The practice of coaching is gaining momentum in the evaluation profession, and more evaluators are including it in their skill set. But less clear is the degree to which evaluators are using coaching practices that adhere to the tested and evidence-based practices that accrediting coaching bodies endorse.

This brief offers an introduction to the use of coaching in evaluation capacity building. It is for internal or external evaluation consultants who work with nonprofits, particularly nonprofits that are resource constrained and need to rely on their own internal capacity to design, implement, and learn from evaluative processes. It is especially directed at evaluators who can benefit from more fully integrating evidence-based coaching practices into their work.

Learning how to coach is a journey, and the tools and resources here are aimed at helping evaluators to get started. The brief outlines four interconnected principles of coaching to help build evaluation capacity. It also offers three coaching tools that evaluators can use to try it out.