Today, more than ever, money "talks" in Extension program evaluation. As employees of a publicly-supported government entity, answerable to a variety of funders and stakeholders, Extension educators must demonstrate program effectiveness through performance resulting in positive outcomes. If a dollar figure can be placed on these outcomes, all the better. Numbers make it easy to aggregate impact data and summarize accomplishments succinctly. This article describes benefits of documenting program impact, components of high-quality impact statements, and specific programs and methods developed to document the economic impact of personal finance programs upon the lives of Extension clientele.
Barbara O’Neill (Thu,) studied this question.