Any organization working to prevent violence—whether sexual violence,1 intimate partner violence, youth violence, suicide, or child maltreatment—wants to know if what it is doing is making a difference. Are protective factors against violence increasing? Are risk factors for violence decreasing? Are rates of violence decreasing over time? Are there fewer perpetrators and fewer victims than there were in the past? Are communities, families, and individuals healthier and safer now than they were before?

Evaluation can help violence prevention organizations answer these and other questions and provide opportunities for these organizations to improve their strategies2 so they are more likely to prevent violence. For this reason, evaluation is becoming a more common practice within organizations, and more funders are requiring grant recipients to evaluate their strategies.