Convinced that proven programs are the surest pathway to organizational growth and sustainability, EMCF distinguishes among three levels of evidence that a program is effective:

• Proven effectiveness - when a program’s impact on participants has been scientifically confirmed by experimental research, ideally a randomized controlled trial or equivalent.
• Demonstrated effectiveness - based on systematically collected data that compare program participants with similar people who are not receiving the service, thus allowing an independent, external evaluator reasonably to conclude that young people are benefiting from participating in the program; and
• High apparent effectiveness - when an organization systematically collects data and can assume on the basis of this internal evidence that young people participating in a particular program are achieving its intended outcomes.

A major objective of the Foundation’s investments in youth-serving organizations is to raise the level of evidence of their programs’ effectiveness. For a chart that provides a fuller explanation of these levels, please download Assessing the Impact of Programming: Three Levels of Effectiveness.