Hi Cary,
Before we even begin developing the activities of a program or event, we define what it is that we are trying to accomplish by asking the question "What does success look like?" As a guide, we use a list of examples of experience outcomes based on the work of the Learning Impact Research Group. Another guiding question we might ask is "Because this event exists, then..."
When we know what we are trying to accomplish, then we develop the activities that will get us to that outcome.
To measure success, we look for indicators of success, and measure those. Preferably two or three indicators to properly make sure that we are not throwing our data off.
So an example would be an institutional All Staff meeting. Success looks like an increase in morale of staff, the breaking down of silos and a staff who has the tools and information they need to do their job. So, morale could be indicated by the number of smiles seen while walking out of the meeting, or the tone of emails sent that same day. Silos destruction might be indicated by departments intermingling at tables, or post meeting conversation. A better informed staff might bring a notepad or take notes on their phone, or a decrease in repeat questions.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, if you aren't going to change anything about a program or event, than measuring success or failure doesn't matter and you shouldn't waste your time. So in my example above, when staff weren't taking notes, we started leaving post its and pens in the center of the table to make it easier if they wanted to.
Number of people attending and amount of money made are indicators of specific outcomes like "We want to reach X # of the community" but thinking about success first might also mean you realize that having more isn't really the goal. It might be a more specific quality over a quantity. An example there would be a fundraising event that brings in 300 low capacity donors versus another with 40 high capacity attendees. Depending on your measurement of success, you may view one as a failure.
I'll send you the document we use to walk through this in a more structured way, but that's the gist of our approach.
IMLS also has a decent resource page for this topic:
https://www.imls.gov/research-evaluation/evaluation-resources
George Buss
Director of Experience and Education
Minnetrista
"The secret to doing anything is believing that you can do it.
Anything that you believe you can do strong enough, you can do.
Anything. As long as you believe."
– Bob Ross