The Swiss Evaluation Society's goal is to foster the exchange of information and experience in the field of evaluation between politics, administration, academia, NGOs and the private sector. It is a multidisciplinary organisation which actively engages in improving the quality of evaluations and their diffusion.

The SEVAL has developed its own evaluation standards, the SEVAL Standards. They build an important basis for promoting the quality of evaluation (see strategy of the SEVAL 2018-2021: PDF in German or French.

The conferences and the working groups allow for a regular and active exchange and contribute to strengthening the networks within evaluation.

The SEVAL was founded in 1996. The SEVAL is the result of the National Science Foundation sponsored Research Program 27. The goal of this Research Program was the evaluation and improvement of the effectiveness of public policies.

Since its foundation, the SEVAL has developed rapidly and surpassed 500 members in the middle of the year 2015. Today, the members represent a much broader practice than the initial focus on evaluating public policies, including the evaluation of products, projects and services and teaching courses in evaluation on different levels.