2025 Membership Survey Share-back to Community

Earlier this year, MNEA conducted a member survey to learn more about current members, gather feedback on current MNEA offerings, and gain insights on opportunities for growth. Sixty (60) members responded to the survey, representing a wide range of evaluation sectors and years of experience in the evaluation field. Highlights from the results include:

• A majority of respondents (92%) prefer to stay connected with MNEA through emails and most (84%) think the current communication volume is just right.

• The MNEA website is primarily used by respondents to register for MNEA events (67%) and look at job postings (47%).

• Respondents expressed great interest in evaluation skill-building programming (77% very interested).

• Specific examples of programming and practices that MNEA should start or continue were provided. These include programming that reflects on current issues in the evaluation field, more virtual events, and consistent scheduling.

• Respondents shared concerns about how current issues around data integrity, use of AI, and the funding environment are impacting the field.

We appreciate members' feedback and are busy incorporating suggestions into our programming and operations. In the coming months, the MNEA board will be working on the following projects:

Providing timely resources on current issues in the field:

• We heard that some of the resources and pages on our website are out of date. We are working on updating the websites, including building out the resources page and adding more information about how the board works. 

• We are also developing a content strategy related to our blog. If you are interested in contributing to the blog, please contact us at info@mneval.org.

• We heard that the cadence of email communication feels about right, so we don’t plan to change the amount of emails we’re sending. However, we plan to get more consistent with the newsletter.

Providing skill building program that reflects current issues in the evaluation field:

• We are building out the 2026 professional development schedule. We anticipate holding virtual events on AI, careers in evaluation, and additional sessions in the Indigenous evaluation series that started in 2024.

• We will continue to offer events designed to meet members’ emerging needs through the Community of Practice and the Unconference. We would love to host more events on emerging topics and are looking for presenters for the Hot Pocket Topics series. If you have a topic you’d like to host a session on, reach out!

• The virtual Community of Practice meets at the same time every other month. Making Connections rotates days and times so that members with different schedules can attend.

Providing more in-person events for members in Greater Minnesota:

• We are working on building out internal infrastructure to support more in-person programming outside of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. If you’re interested in hosting an event in your community or would like to include an event in our newsletter, please get in touch with us (info@mneval.org)

Improving member engagement:

• We will continue to provide in-person opportunities for members through Making Connections and the Annual Meeting (save the date for December 2!)

• We are focusing on infrastructure improvements that will help us better understand our membership as well as expand our outreach efforts.

• We hope to support members to play an active role shaping the organization and our programing. If you are interested in hosting an event, providing a training, or have a topic to suggest, please get in touch with us. (info@mneval.org)

MNEA is an all-volunteer board, and we’re always on the lookout for volunteers to help with programs and operations. If you’re interested in volunteering, please reach out to us at info@mneval.org

Thank you for your input and for your continued engagement with MNEA. 

- The MNEA Board