Evaluation Planning Retreat

Multiple people collaborating in a conference room — Build a strong evaluation plan in one week

If you’ve been wanting to use data and evaluation to strengthen your program or organization but haven’t had the time, support, or clarity to make it happen, the Evaluation Planning Retreat is for you.

Register Now

Join us May 11–15, 2026, in Kalamazoo, MI, for a hands-on week where you’ll build the core tools your initiative needs: logic models, evaluation questions, data collection plans, and more. Whether your initiative is brand new or well underway, you’ll leave with practical tools and a clear plan to measure and communicate your impact.

The Evaluation Center's Evaluation Planning Retreat is for anyone who wants to use data and evaluation to enhance their work. By the end of the week, you’ll leave with an actionable evaluation framework, ready-to-use tools, and a plan to communicate your impact, setting your initiative up for lasting success.

Date: May 11–15, 2026

Time: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. EDT

Location: Fetzer Center, 2251 Business Ct, Kalamazoo, MI 49008 (on Western Michigan University’s main campus)

Who should attend

The retreat is designed for teams who are ready to collaborate to either jumpstart a new evaluation or strengthen existing practices. No prior evaluation experience is required. Whether your initiative is still in the planning stages or well underway, you’ll gain practical skills and tangible products, and leverage evaluation to advance your mission.

What to expect

Each day includes engaging activities, hands-on work time, peer feedback, and one-on-one support from instructors You’ll apply key concepts directly to your own initiative as you develop foundational evaluation deliverables:

Logic model or theory of change
Evaluation questions and an evaluation use plan
A data collection and analysis strategy
A plan for making sense of evaluation findings and turning them into action
A slide deck to present the plan to others in your organization
An action plan for the next steps for your evaluation

Instructors

The retreat will be facilitated by senior staff from the Western Michigan University Evaluation Center. We have deep experience as evaluation practitioners and educators and are ready to meet you wherever you are on your evaluation journey.

Learn more about each of the instructors: Dr. Megan López, Dr. Kelly Robertson, Dr. Lori Wingate, and Dr. Brandon Youker.

The Evaluation Center

The Evaluation Center is widely recognized for its 60+ years of leadership in advancing evaluation theory, practice, and use. We are well known for our talent for translating evaluation concepts into practical strategies to support data-informed learning and decision making.

Learn more about The Evaluation Center and what guides our work by exploring our mission, vision, values, and beliefs about evaluation.

Pricing and Registration

For maximum benefit, we encourage organizations to send more than one person to the institute. Our pricing structure makes it cost-effective to send up to five people.

Register by 4/25/2026

Community Participants

Cost: $1,800* for the first two participants from the same organization, $300 for each additional (up to five per organization).

* If the cost of attendance is prohibitive, we can offer a sliding-scale fee.

WMU Participants

Cost: $950 for the first two participants from the same department, $300 for each additional (up to five per department).

Questions

Please email @email with any questions.