What Data Can—and Can’t—Tell Us About Ministry Impact

Meagan Schlinkert is the Director of Program Optimization at Kingdom Workers. Her work focuses on helping the organization evaluate its programs—asking important questions about what is working, where needs are greatest, and how Kingdom Workers can steward resources wisely while serving communities with dignity and sharing the gospel.

But what does evaluation in ministry actually look like? How do you measure whether programs are truly helping people—and what can data never fully capture? Meagan shares how Kingdom Workers approaches these questions and what the team is learning along the way.

Q. When someone asks, “Does this program work?” what’s the first thing you want to clarify?

A. First, clarifying what is meant by "work" and what outcome(s) we are looking at - setting goals and outcomes first helps us know what is working and what we want to measure. Do we want to look at the number of people served, how they were served, short- or long-term outcomes, or sustainability? We also want to see how well we are addressing the local community's needs, both physically and spiritually, and that this work reflects Kingdom Workers' mission of "partnering with Christians to share Jesus’ love while helping their neighbors."

Q. How does Kingdom Workers define “success”—and how is that different from how other nonprofits define it?

A. We want success that is lasting and ultimately locally owned, not just activity for activity's sake. We look at physical, relational, and spiritual health. We count numbers and activities, but that is not our final goal; we want people to know that they are loved by God to love and serve their neighbors, to enable community transformation, and help restore God-given dignity to community members. We define success as lasting, holistic change that points people to Christ—because the gospel and human flourishing belong together. Success is also locally defined through partnership with fields and communities, who help set their own goals and indicators of progress. We want people to be equipped to keep loving, serving, and sharing with their neighbors, even without Kingdom Workers.

Q. What kinds of outcomes matter most when evaluating a program?

A. For all our programs, we look at:

• • • • Physical needs addressed

      • Spiritual hope and truth shared and gained

      • Local leadership strengthened

      • Replicability and sustainability

      • How well we loved our neighbors and empowered them to love their neighbors

      • Growth and trust in their local church and community

Q. What can data help us see clearly—and what can it never fully capture?

A. Data helps us not assume outcomes and that what we are doing is working. It helps us steward our resources well and tell the stories of our work. It helps us focus our resources and program goals and recommendations as well. Data can never fully capture the work God is doing behind the scenes and the eternal impacts. It can also give us insights into people's lived-experiences, but never fully tell individual stories.

• • • • Data can help us see:

        • If outcomes are improving

        • Where the greatest needs are

        • Whether we are using resources effectively and efficiently

      • But data cannot fully capture:

        • The true depth of someone's spiritual growth 

        • Private prayers prayed

        • The beginning of an eternal impact—only God sees the heart

        • The true impact of dignity restored 

Q. How do you keep evaluation from becoming cold or disconnected from people’s real lives?

A. We always want to focus on the reason we are doing evaluation—serving people designed in God's image in the best, most effective way possible, while also sharing and celebrating successes. We do this by listening first, working directly with local communities to ask the right questions and follow up with their responses, being in-person in those communities whenever possible, and receiving feedback directly from the communities we partner with. Evaluation is not about numbers, but about stewardship, responsibility, improvement, and telling people's stories.

Q. What’s something evaluation has revealed that surprised you?

A. We have so many wonderful examples! At a high level, volunteer capacity, conversations people are having about health and the gospel, and the trust that people have in their local churches.

• • • • In our most recent disability evaluation, we learned that US Disability volunteers are not just showing up at events, but are becoming more involved in the lives of the people they serve, praying with people, and including them in their lives in various ways.
        
        
      • In the disability program evaluation in Malawi, we were unsure how effective the support group model was (adults with disabilities learning life skills and receiving spiritual encouragement from volunteers). The results showed that the groups were providing more than basic program participation. Families reported strong emotional support and a reduced sense of isolation. At the same time, group savings and shared income activities led to financial improvement. Those gains translated into practical outcomes—better nutrition, the ability to pay for household expenses (children’s school fees, medical bills, etc.), teaching others their skills, supporting others with disabilities, and purchasing small assets that helped households continue generating income both individually and collectively.
        
        
      • Learning that volunteers enjoy their work, but also take a lot of their personal time to be the hands and feet of Kingdom Workers. So, there needed to be a structure to help volunteers work towards leadership and further their education, to better serve others by improving their own livelihoods. Out of this knowledge came skills and leadership training for volunteers.
        
        
      • Learning that in some places we work, access to water is very difficult, we can teach about clean water, sanitation, and hygiene, but sometimes having continual, basic access to water (less than a 30-minute round trip) has been difficult for people we serve. We learned about 3–4-hour travel times to collect water, but after local volunteer leaders advocated for their community with the local government, they were able to get their water sources repaired and access clean, nearby water. We learned about this through surveys, but also through relationships and reporting from volunteers. 

Q. Can you share an example where evaluation challenged an assumption?

1. Although we assumed that hygiene education improves health outcomes, which in many cases it did, we also noticed the need for deepening hygiene behavior-change strategies using training, household coaching, limited-water examples, demonstrations, and connections to health facilities. This was based on learning that although some health behaviors have improved, people still need more access to items for lasting health behavior changes and seeking appropriate medical care at health facilities. To improve and action on this finding, we are thinking through new strategies to improve care for the people we serve.

2. Based on findings through evaluation, we discovered the need for more formal, especially water access partnerships or local, community-based training partnerships in some areas where we work. We hope to implement changes and enhance community involvement and strategic partnerships for infrastructure, discipleship, and sustainability. This would help us steward our resources while also improving outcomes.

Meagan with other KW staff and a volunteer in Arizona helping evaluate our construction programs.

Q. How does learning from what didn’t work strengthen future programs?

A. This happens in several ways:

• • • • We are able to refine our approach and programs as needed

      • We can prevent repeated mistakes

      • We deepen compassion and make sure we do no harm

      • We grow in humility and knowledge

      • We ideally improve sustainability

      • Learning strengthens impact, trust, and replicability
        
        

Q. Why is asking hard questions part of faithful stewardship—not a lack of trust?

A. Because the resources entrusted to us are not ours—they belong to God. It shows that we actually care about the work we are doing and its impacts. It also highlights success or changes needed, which helps build trust by telling success stories or implementing changes to help better serve people.

Q. What do you hope donors understand about evaluation?

A. That evaluation is an expression of respect—for them and for those served. It ensures:

• • • • • Their giving is stewarded wisely
        • Programs improve continuously
        • Stories shared are honest and transparent
        • Impact is real, not assumed
        • Builds trust 
        • They hear the stories of what their donations contributed to

Q. What keeps you motivated to do this careful work?

A. I am motivated by:

• • • • Love for our local and international neighbors

      • Desire to constantly be listening and improving

      • Better use of funds/supplies to hopefully expand programming and services

      • Understanding that we can do nothing without God's grace and provision

      • Measuring change and ensuring lasting change takes time 

      • Working to get accurate results also takes time, asking the right questions of the right people, so we continuously improve our process for evaluation, too

      • Colossians 3:23 reminds us: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.”

Q. What would you want to say to the people whose giving makes this work possible?

Faithfulness Through Partnership

At Kingdom Workers, evaluation isn’t about proving success—it’s about pursuing faithfulness.

By carefully studying our programs, we’re able to learn what is working, improve where we need to grow, and focus our efforts where they can have the greatest impact. At the same time, we recognize that the most important work God does often happens in ways no spreadsheet can measure.

Data helps guide our decisions.
But prayer, relationships, and the Gospel remain at the center of everything we do.

We are grateful for the partners—donors, volunteers, and churches—who make this work possible and who share our desire to steward every opportunity well.

See the Impact of This Work

Evaluation helps us understand how programs are strengthening families, churches, and communities around the world.

👉 Explore the latest Impact Report from Kingdom Workers to see how this work is making an eternal difference.