VERITAS: 7 Strategies for Building Trust in Evaluation Findings
Patrizia Cocca leads the Communications and Knowledge Management Team of GEI.
When discussing how to communicate evaluation results, the conversation often revolves around the "how"—such as report length, format, and delivery methods. However, at the heart of the issue lies a more fundamental challenge: TRUST. How can we ensure that evaluative evidence is trusted and captures the attention of decision-makers in an increasingly skeptical and information-overloaded world?
This question surfaced during the “From Data to Decision: The Role of Knowledge Management and Communication in Evidence-Based Policy Making” session at the 15th European Evaluation Society Conference, held in Rimini, Italy, in September. As panelists exchanged insights, it became clear that trust, more than just formats or tools, is the cornerstone of effective evaluation communication.
Why Trust is Critical to Evidence-Based Decision-Making
In his remarks, Cristian Crespo, Director of the Center for Learning on Evaluation and Results for Latin America and the Caribbean (CLEAR-LAC), a GEI implementing partner, said that trust underpins a functional evaluation system. He pointed out that "internal communication" is not just about sharing knowledge but also about building relationships within government evaluation functions. These relationships build trust that can help foster communities that go beyond information sharing and encourage a move toward institutionalizing evaluation systems.
Josephine Watera, a knowledge broker in Uganda’s Parliament who was in the audience, reinforced this point. Her role involves providing evidence to parliamentarians, and she noted that distrust in a report or organization makes it harder to promote the use of that evidence. If a report is perceived as biased, it's likely to be dismissed, no matter the rigor of the analysis.
Let’s look at what evaluators can do to build trust, ensure their reports are credible, and avoid being perceived as biased.
VERITAS for Building Trust
As I was writing this blog piece, the word VERITAS (Latin for “truth”) came to mind as an acronym for remembering seven different strategies for building trust in evaluation findings and grabbing the attention of decision-makers. By adhering to the principles underpinning these strategies, evaluators can ensure their findings are trusted, respected, and used to inform meaningful decisions.
1. Voices: Use Trusted Messengers
Different audiences trust different voices. Partnering with reputable institutions—universities, NGOs, or even government agencies—can enhance the perceived trustworthiness of evaluation findings. Choosing the right messenger for the right audience increases the likelihood that the findings will be accepted and acted upon.
2. Ethics: Acknowledge Bias and Ethical Considerations
In a world flooded with information, navigating bias is crucial. Trust comes from acknowledging potential biases in both data sources and presentation methods. Clear citation of data, coupled with ethical practices in analysis and visualization, helps safeguard the credibility of findings. Objectivity in data communication is critical to building trust in evidence.
3. Relationships: Foster Long-Term Connections
Trust is relational. Building trust with stakeholders requires ongoing engagement, dialogue, and responsiveness. Decision-makers need to feel that evaluators are listening, that they respect their feedback, and that they are working together toward shared goals. Long-term relationships are the foundation of trust in evaluation systems.
4. Integrity: The heart of trust
In evaluations, stakeholders—whether government officials, organizations, or the public—need to know that the process is honest, free from manipulation, and committed to presenting the truth. Integrity ensures that the results are reliable and communicated without bias.
5. Transparency: Ensure Rigorous and Transparent Methods
Trust is directly linked to credibility. Being transparent about evaluation methods, openly discussing limitations, and clearly documenting the process can help stakeholders understand and appreciate the robustness of the evidence. To build confidence in the objectivity of the findings, evaluators must provide a transparent pathway from data collection to analysis.
6. Accessibility: Present Findings in Accessible and Relatable Ways
Several panelists emphasized the importance of making sure evidence is understandable to the audience. This goes beyond data delivery to starting an ongoing dialogue—especially between stakeholders who may speak different “languages”. For instance, finance officials may focus on efficiency metrics, while social outcome experts look at impact. Using clear, relatable communications and tools like data visualization helps to bridge any gaps and make the findings more approachable.
7. Stakeholders: Engage Stakeholders Early and Often
Involving stakeholders from the beginning of the evaluation process builds trust by ensuring their perspectives and needs are reflected in the work. This early engagement cultivates a sense of ownership and makes it more likely that decision-makers will trust the evaluation’s findings.
Grabbing the Attention of Decision-Makers
During the session, storytelling was highlighted as an effective way of grabbing the attention of busy decision-makers. Storytelling can transform dry data into compelling narratives and make complex findings relatable and memorable. People are more likely to trust and act on information they understand emotionally, not just intellectually. You can read an example of GEI storytelling here.
Data storytelling is a potent tool too. By weaving data into narratives, evaluators can make their findings more engaging and actionable, prompting decision-makers to pay closer attention. Humans connect with stories, and when evaluation findings are presented in story form, they resonate on a deeper level.
Building trust is not just an add-on to communicating evaluative evidence; it is the foundation of evidence-based decision-making. This is why involving stakeholders, using transparent methods, engaging decision-makers, and respecting local contexts are all indispensable aspects of GEI's approach to supporting governments in building and strengthening their national evaluation systems. There's no other way because creating an enabling environment for evidence-based decision-making hinges greatly on having an ecosystem of trust.
At a time when information overload and distrust are pervasive, we need to prioritize trust to ensure that evaluation findings are heard, understood, accepted, and acted upon.