Monitoring and Evaluating

Making M&E Accessible to Grassroots Organizations Webinar presented to GlobalGiving grantees DRAFT 17 May 2011 Jennifer Lentfer of www.how-matters.org

Acknowledgements & Thanks Child-focused groups in Lesotho in an M&E training developed specifically for community-based organizations by Insideout/Otherwise. Supported by Firelight Foundation. Photo credit: J. Lentfer

Webinar Overview Discussion of M&E in the international aid sector Engage in practical exercises to: Identify guiding principles for M&E activities Identify how key M&E concepts and practicalities can be better understood and utilized by grassroots orgs Sharing of challenges and practical advice

Expected Outcomes of Webinar RECOGNITION OF THE VALUE OF M&E Know why it’s vital to think about the ‘ So what’s? ’ of what you do. Learn how to use M&E data to adapt and improve programs. Be able to share your success stories and learn from mistakes. BE ABLE TO WRITE BETTER REPORTS See how monitoring can be linked to your day-to-day work. Build commitment to M&E from the beginning of an initiative. STRENGTHENED COLLABORATION Increased opportunities for engagement, networking and advocacy with government and other local stakeholders Strengthened relationships with donors

M&E? RESULTS? FEAR Policing SCRUTINY PRESSURE! End of Funding? Confusion DISTRUST BURDEN

Monitoring & Evaluation: The International Development Paradigm Objectives Statements Performance Indicator Statements Measurement Methods / Data Sources Goal Strategic Objectives Intermediate Results Outputs Activities Critical Assumptions

TRUE OR FALSE? 1. A key purpose of M&E is to help organizations assess achievements. 5. The results of grassroots organizations’ work is easy to measure. 3. M&E activities will automatically lead to improved programming. 7. “Knowing” is most accurate when you experience something firsthand. 9. The human dimensions of community work are more important than the numbers. EXERCISE

Jennifer’s Guiding Principles in M&E Nurture strong, sustainable grassroots organizations. Meet groups “where they are.” Build partners’ ability and confidence to monitor and evaluate their own work. Peer-to-peer technical assistance is most effective.

Jennifer’s Guiding Principles in M&E Organizations are already monitoring their work. Perfect numbers are not our goal. Impact is NOT easy to prove due to: Timeframe Causality and attribution M&E activities should never detract from the work at hand, which is serving families and communities. Remember, the purpose of a home visit is to: Build personal relationships Serve the community Obtain information about the family So that the visit can result in: Being responsive to the family’s needs Information collected on your indicators

M&E: What’s the Difference? Monitoring Evaluation Ongoing process Event that occurs periodically Recordkeeping/Tracking Activities Analyzing results Observing trends Assessing impact Mainly descriptive, recording inputs, outputs, and activities (e.g. How many children received supplementary school feeding?) More analytical and examines processes (e,g. Did implementing school feeding successfully increase attendance levels?) Allows us to make adjustments or corrective actions in a project Informs future programming for all stakeholders Data collection is part of day-to-day management & activities Additional, special data may be collected using research methodologies Is objective and systematic Is objective and systematic

M&E: What’s the Difference? EXERCISE We monitor… We evaluate… 1. A child’s height and weight. 1. Whether children are growing at a normal rate. 2. The number of weekly visits to chronically ill people. 2. The effectiveness of home-based care. 3. The number of families planting improved crop varieties. 3. An increase/ decrease in food security. 4. The number of people trained in human rights. 4. Whether reports of human rights abuses have increased or decreased and why.

Choosing M&E Methods Cost Complexity Existing records (e.g. household lists) Routine statistics Focus groups Specific sample surveys Key informant interviews Observation Special or ’point’ studies Keep expectations realistic.

Making M&E Accessible De-technicalize language. ROADMAP TO MONITORING What are we trying to change? Where do we want to get to? How are we going to get there? What do we expect to happen along the way? OUTPUT OUTCOME IMPACT How do we know we are on the right road? problem analysis goals, objectives strategy, activities RESULTS indicators, baseline, targets

Making M&E Accessible OUTPUT OUTCOME IMPACT ACTIVITIES Have the activities taken place? The very first result of an activity. Organizations have direct control over this result. What happened next? Change of behavior in participants. Organizations have less control over this result. So what? Change at population/ societal level. Organizations have very little control, if any. RESULTS

Results: which is which? OUTPUT Have the activities taken place? OUTCOME What happened next? IMPACT So what? ACTIVITY RESULTS Healthier children Children receive more nutritious food School feeding Children weight and height increased ?

Results: which is which? OUTPUT Have the activities taken place? OUTCOME What happened next? IMPACT So what? ACTIVITY RESULTS HIV+ people visited in their homes Home-based care for HIV+ people HIV+ people live longer HIV+ people have increased BMI and ART adherence ?

Results: which is which? OUTPUT Have the activities taken place? OUTCOME What happened next? IMPACT So what? ACTIVITY RESULTS Farmers oriented on improved crop varieties More farmers harvesting improved varieties Extension services offered to farmers Increased food security ?

Results: which is which? OUTPUT Have the activities taken place? OUTCOME What happened next? IMPACT So what? ACTIVITY RESULTS Community members trained in human rights Human rights training Human rights more widely upheld Increased reporting of human rights violations ?

Data Collection Tips Know what information you need BEFORE you start collecting data. Plan how data will be reported, reviewed, and used. Simple exercises and forms are often the most useful. Recognize your responsibility towards the community by involving them and respecting individuals’ rights. Keep good records. If you collect, use and analyze information appropriately, you will be documenting the eyes and voices of the community about how your programs affect their lives.

Making M&E Accessible Collect Compile Compare Share Simple Steps in Data Analysis Staff of child-focused organizations in Lesotho engaged in data compilation during in M&E training developed by Insideout/Otherwise and supported by Firelight Foundation. Photo credit: J. Lentfer

Challenges? What is your organization facing? What do you anticipate? Staff of child-focused organizations in Zambia engaged in practical exercises during M&E training developed specifically for community-based organizations by Insideout/Otherwise. Supported by Firelight Foundation. Photo credit: J. Lentfer

Challenges Lack of resources to devote to M&E (time, staff, $) Buy-in at organizational level – support of management/board, staff turnover, quality of shared learning Management issues within organizations - planning (strategic, workplans), human resources management, budgeting/financial management Outcome indicators are often the most difficult to identify Lack of “baseline” data for comparison purposes Anxiety about M&E remains – pleasing donors

Challenges: Reality Check “ Absence of computers to process data and store the information so it can be easily accessed.” “ We now need to be able to cross the river more frequently.”

What to focus on going forward Your organization clearly identifies strategies and intended outcomes of your work.  Monitoring is paired with your ongoing, day-to-day work .  Your organization has ownership of its monitoring framework, tools, and procedures.  Management/leaders makes changes in your organization’s programs and activities based on what is learnt.  Your organization shares what it learns with the people served.  Reports to your organization’s donors and other stakeholders are a more complete depiction of the outcomes of your work.

Remember: G reat work does not equal great M&E. Poor M&E does not equal poor work. Good luck in your M&E efforts! THANK YOU

Monitoring and Evaluating

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