NGO support toolkit (English) 

Monitoring and evaluation

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) are key areas of technical support that should be provided by NSPs to their partner NGOs and CBOs. However, unless an NSP is committed to building and maintaining a comprehensive M&E system of its own, the M&E support it provides to partners is unlikely to be effective. This section introduces the basic concepts of monitoring and evaluation, and describes the key stages involved in building an M&E system for NSPs but also provides guidance on how NSPs can provide support to NGOs/CBOs to develop their own M&E systems.

Some of the reasons why monitoring is done include:

• ensuring that implementation is moving according to plans and identify areas needing further support for NGOs/CBOs;
• improving the quality of routine work at the local level;
• to provide baseline information for evaluations;
• to feed into project planning and development.

The purposes of evaluation include:

• demonstrating the value of NGO work to outsiders;
• comparing different project approaches for future programme development;
• contributing to lessons learned;
• for policy and advocacy.

Both monitoring and evaluation are management tools. In the case of monitoring, information is routinely gathered for tracking progress according to previously agreed plans and schedules. Evaluation is more episodic than monitoring. It is facilitated by monitoring but utilises additional sources of information. Many such sources are identified during project reviews when there is a need to understand why inputs did not lead to planned outputs or what the impact of a programme has been. More details are provided in evaluations.

M&E is sometimes regarded as a donor-driven requirement, with little or no use for the NSP or NGO/CBO. This view may lead to unreliable and unsystematic reporting. Beyond accountability to donors, there are many good reasons for undertaking M&E. The reasons for undertaking M&E may differ between NGOs/CBOs and the NSP, but these reasons should be clear to all stakeholders.

As mentioned above, monitoring and evaluation play key roles in programme management. Easily accessible M&E data can provide a solid basis for project reviews and can be useful in identifying problems. M&E data can also be used to highlight potential solutions to problems and justify changes to workplans and budgets. Tracking progress using M&E data can also assist managers in identifying areas for technical support or capacity building, both among staff and NGO partners. Regular feedback of monitoring results can be encouraging both to NGO partners and NSP staff. M&E also provides useful opportunities for staff and stakeholder participation.

Issues to consider

• The reasons for undertaking M&E may differ across organisations and between NGOs/CBOs and NSPs, so it is helpful to establish common understanding amongst programme staff and all other stakeholders about the priorities in M&E.
• The priorities in M&E need to be matched with organisational capacity and human and financial resources. M&E activities should aim to meet information requirements without overloading the staff involved and using up a lot of resources. Ideally, the budget for M&E activities should be less than 10% of the overall programme budget.
• A participatory approach to M&E requires that a range of stakeholders are involved. Stakeholders are those with a ‘stake’ or interest in the outcome of the project and may include staff responsible for collecting and analysing monitoring data, those implementing the project, the beneficiaries or project participants, and those providing financial support or technical support.
• Ideally, the development of M&E systems should take place alongside organisational level planning; in other words, at the planning or re-planning stages of the project cycle. This ensures that M&E procedures stay relevant to programme implementation, and avoids the common pitfall of developing M&E as an afterthought.

Related themes

Technical support in project management

Technical support in monitoring

Technical support in evaluation

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