Measurement & Evaluation

Turning data into decisions that improve lives.

At Strategic Spartanburg, our Measurement & Evaluation (M&E) pillar provides research and evaluation services for schools, coalitions, foundations, non-profits, businesses, municipalities, and community-based organizations. Whether you need a brief consultation or a multi-year evaluation partnership, we help you measure what matters, tell your story with credibility, and strengthen your impact.

Our Approach: Learning Partnerships

We see ourselves as learning partners. Our evaluation work is not just about reporting outcomes, it is about building capacity for continuous improvement. We bring a collaborative approach to help you reflect, learn, and adapt, while ensuring the right people and voices are included throughout the process.

  • Relationships first: Understanding your history, needs, and context helps us surface insights that truly matter.

  • Intended use and users: We design evaluations that serve real-world decision-making, from strategy refinement to policy advocacy.

  • Impact at the core: Our methods are people-centered and culturally responsive. We use data and storytelling to advance equity and reduce disparities.

  • Capacity building: We help partners develop the structures and skills to sustain evaluation beyond any one project.

Our services

Our team offers a broad range of skills, methods, and services tailored to your project:

Designing and Implementing Evaluation Processes

  • Program and initiative evaluations (formative, developmental, and summative)

  • Survey design, administration, and analysis

  • Focus groups, interviews, and participatory research

  • Document and policy reviews

  • Logic models, theories of change, and impact frameworks

Developing, Analyzing, and Presenting Data

  • Quantitative and qualitative data analysis

  • Social network analysis and systems mapping

  • Literature reviews and landscape scans

  • Data-informed recommendations tailored to decision-making

  • Accessible reports and presentations with clear visuals

Innovative and Community-Centered Approaches

  • Culturally responsive evaluation methods

  • Participatory and community-based research models

  • Co-design with stakeholders and residents

  • Continuous improvement cycles for long-term impact

Our Experience & Impact

We have partnered locally and nationally to provide evaluation and data support across a variety of fields, including:

  • Education: Early childhood, literacy, special education, out-of-school time, and vocational training

  • Health: Mental and behavioral health, substance use recovery, maternal and child health

  • Community development: Affordable housing, economic mobility, and workforce development

  • Civic engagement: Participatory grantmaking and collaborative systems change

Examples of our work include:

  • Evaluator of record for Spartanburg’s Mental & Behavioral Health Collective Plan: a collective, community plan to support mental health and well-being of all Spartanburg residents, particularly our most vulnerable.

  • Backbone support for Movement 2030: a groundbreaking place-based partnership to create the conditions for Spartanburg’s children and families to succeed in life, no matter where they are born and raised.

  • Evaluator of record for the Promise Neighborhood - Southside Blueprint: a place-based US Department of Education program striving to turn poverty-concentrated neighborhoods into communities of opportunity.

Why Partner with Us?

Local expertise, national credibility. Deep knowledge of community engagement paired with methodological rigor.

  1. Trusted backbone. We serve as the data partner for collective impact efforts across Spartanburg County.

  2. Impact-driven. Every evaluation we design prioritizes inclusion, cultural responsiveness, and systemic impact.

  3. Actionable results. Our deliverables are designed for leaders, practitioners, and residents—not just researchers.

Past and Current Learning Partners

  • Spartanburg Academic Movement

  • Brown Girls Read

  • Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System

  • Angels Charge Ministries

  • City of Spartanburg

  • Spartanburg County Foundation

Let’s Measure What Matters

Ready to design an evaluation, analyze results, or build a long-term measurement framework? Together, we’ll turn data into insight, and insight into action.