Evaluation
Project evaluation is designed to find out how well the project as a whole has succeeded in achieving its objectives, what helped or hindered in this, and to identify who benefited from the project, and in what ways. These findings can then be fed into a review and re-planning system and used to refine and improve future work, both within the project and the organisation, and also amongst other organisations engaged in similar work.
A NGO/CBO support provider (NSP) can help its NGO and CBO partners in a number of ways. First, it can offer generic training about evaluation (or in some cases about monitoring and evaluation combined). More advanced training might also require time to discuss some of the more technical areas, such as sampling.
Secondly, an NGO or CBO may ask the NSP to conduct the evaluation, either by providing funding for a consultant-led or external evaluation, or in collaboration. The involvement of external agencies can lend authority and credibility to the evaluation, which can be helpful for NGOs or CBOs in future funding applications.
Thirdly, an NSP can play a valuable role by providing one-to-one technical support at various points in the evaluation process. This should always begin with a joint assessment of the internal skills, experience and capacities of the organisation in relation to evaluation methods, and what aspects of the project most need evaluating.
Issues to consider
- Some CBOs and NGOs may be reluctant to commit time and resources into evaluation, seeing it as academic research and may be sceptical about its practical benefits. There may not be local examples of helpful evaluation. NSPs need to address these concerns, and explain the benefits of evaluation for developing better practice as well as relationships with donors.
- NGOs and CBOs may perceive NSP involvement in evaluation as threatening, confusing it with personal appraisal or performance management, particularly where the NSP is also providing significant funding. It is important to anticipate and try to prevent such feelings, and to encourage those involved to see both the technical support and the evaluation itself as a learning exercise.
Resources
Guidelines for carrying out participatory evaluations
Table which outlines an evaluation process and evaluation report.
Khmer HIV/AIDS NGO Alliance (KHANA), 1999, Word, 2 pgs, 25 kb
Performance Monitoring and Evaluation TIPS: Conducting a Participatory Evaluation
Concise description of and guidance on undertaking a participatory evaluation.
USAID Center for Development Information and Evaluation, 1996, PDF, 4 pgs, 27 kb
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Evaluation matrix
Can be used to consider different evaluation questions and decide which data collection tools have the greatest potential for providing the desired information.
Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing, Word, 2 pgs, 21 kb
Evaluation report template
Presents a way of structuring an evaluation report.
CEISMIC, Word, 3 pgs, 17 kb
