Evaluations can fulfill different functions. On the one hand, they help to generate insights that are used, for example, as a basis for strategic decision-making. Alternatively, evaluations can also perform a control function by monitoring efficiency or, in the case of impact-oriented evaluations, effectiveness. In practice, evaluations often aim to legitimize services or measures – arguments that can also be derived from the efficiency or effectiveness test. This is mainly possible because evaluations usually provide measurable results for the evaluated items. Evaluations can also be used to establish and promote dialogue between stakeholders.

Depending on the function of the evaluation, content-related priorities can also be set. For example, the focus may be on the measurement of psychological effects, the assessment of social effects or even economic aspects. Depending on which function of the evaluation is in the foreground and how the project is constituted in terms of content and structure, different approaches make sense. An evaluation design is defined by considering various decision-making dimensions. The following table provides an overview of the basic choices that should be considered when creating an evaluation design. Depending on the function of the evaluation, certain combinations of the decision options prove to be particularly useful.

^{Source: Schober, C./ Rauscher, O./ Millner, R. (2013): Evaluation und Wirkungsmessung. In: Simsa, R./ Meyer, M./ Badelt, C. (Hrsg.): Handbuch der Nonprofit Organisation: Strukturen und Management. Schäffer Poeschel. Stuttgart. S. 459}

Basically, it has to be determined whether the evaluation is to be carried out as an accompaniment to an already running process and actively involved in the further development of the process or whether the process should be analyzed from an outside perspective. It is also crucial to define where the evaluation starts: is the analysis more goal-oriented in order to find answers to specific questions, or is the process of evaluation deliberately left open in order to allow the most comprehensive consideration of the process? Depending on this, the appropriate methodological approach for the evaluation is chosen. This depends on the respective requirements of the evaluation and is characterized by a combination of evaluative approaches based on qualitative and quantitative social scientific methods.

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