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?

Monitoring & Evaluation:The International Development Paradigm

Objectives

Statements

Performance

Indicator Statement

s

MeasurementMethods / Data

Sources

Goal

StrategicObjectives

IntermediateResults

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:

1) Build personal relationships

2) Serve the community

3) Obtain information about the family

So that the visit can result in:

1) Being responsive to the family’s needs

2) 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?

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.

EXERCISE

Cost

Complexity

Existing records

(e.g. household

lists)

Routinestatistics

Focus groups

Specific samplesurveys

Key informantinterviews

Observation

Special or ’point’ studies

Choosing M&E Methods

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? OUTPU

TOUTCOME

IMPACT

How do we know we are on the

right road?proble

m analysi

s

goals, objecti

ves

strategy,

activities

RESULTSindicat

ors, baselin

e, targets

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 participant

s.

Organizations have

less control over this result.

So what?

Change at population/

societal level.

Organizations have

very little control, if

any.

Making M&E Accessible

RESULTS

Results: which is which?

OUTPUT

Have the activities

taken place?

OUTCOMEWhat

happened next?

IMPACTSo 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?

OUTCOMEWhat

happened next?

IMPACTSo 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?

OUTCOMEWhat

happened next?

IMPACTSo 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?

OUTCOMEWhat

happened next?

IMPACTSo what?

ACTIVITY

RESULTS

Community members trained in human rights

Human rights training

Human rights more widely upheld

Increased reporting of human rights violations

?

Determining Results

EXERCISE

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

1. Collect

2. Compile

3. Compare

4. 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:

Great work does not equal great M&E.

Poor M&E does not equal poor work.

Good luck in your M&E efforts!

THANK YOU