1. GFC M&E 101 THE BASICS OF MONITORING AND EVALUATION AT GFC

2. Objectives Understand M&E basics
Understand the value of M&E to our organizations
Gain familiarity and comfort with GFC’s metrics framework to complete GFC’s grant application and and reports
Welcome to the Global Fund for Children’s tutorial on Monitoring and Evaluation!
We appreciate you taking the time to go over this tutorial. Please review each slide and its comments carefully. By the end of this tutorial, we hope that you will:
Have a clear and better understanding of the basics of monitoring and evaluation (M&E);
-Have an appreciation for why M&E matters and what it can mean for our work; and
- Become more comfortable with GFC’s M&E language and framework so that we can monitor and assess your work effectively and you can write better reports, proposals and advance your overall mission.

3. MONITORING EVALUATION
Defining M&E
MONITORING
Systematic collection & review of data
EVALUATION
Systematic analysis of & conclusions from data
Even though monitoring and evaluation are often used together, it is helpful to look at what each word means separately to better understand and use the M&E frameworks.
Monitoring is a systematic collection and review of data.
When you monitor, you collect data intentionally. You determine what information you need to show that you’re doing your work and meeting your goals. You collect that information or data on an ongoing basis to know if you are making progress against your goals and objectives.
For example, if your goal is to send children to college, then one piece of information you need to know to assess if you are meeting that goal is how the children are performing in school. You can collect this data from teachers or schools, and you can observe it over time to identify some children that may need help or extra assistance. This data can also help you tell your organization’s story to donors or other stakeholders in words and numbers. Numbers that indicate how many beneficiaries you serve, what grades, what types of classes, how often you offer them, and how the children are performing in school help you and others better understand the importance of your mission and work.
After doing the work and collecting the data, you then use that information to evaluate your work, to see if you have in fact met your goals and made a difference in the lives of the children and communities you serve.
Evaluation is a systematic analysis & conclusion from data.
When you evaluate, you compare the long-term impact of your work against your strategy. It helps you look at your work over time and assess if you have met your goals and vision, if you’ve made a significant change in your program participants, and if some of that can even be proven through the assessment of the information you have collected.
For example, are students in your program more likely to succeed in school and attend college than other students in other after school programs? To make this judgment, some organizations hire external evaluators or use skilled staff members to compare your data with data from other organizations that have similar programming and/or to compare your data with data from students who don’t have any access to tutoring . This study can be done one time, at the end of a strategic plan for example or it can be an ongoing study that takes place at the organization’s own time and convenience. In all cases, evaluation is a way to learn from what has happened, look at it objectively, and use that knowledge to make informed decisions about the future of your work.

4. Monitor and Evaluate Monitoring
Comparing progress against objectives/goals/workplans
Systematic and intentional collection of data
Observes trends (what, who, where)
Helps keep work on track and lets you know when things are going wrong to correct them
Uses numbers and stories to describe what took place, activities and the direct result of those activities
An ongoing process
Day to day data collection and management tool
Evaluation
Compare actual impact of projects against strategic plans
Systematic and intentional analysis of data
Assesses impact (how, why, what)
Helps analyze results to demonstrate change and informs future programming and approaches
Looks at what you set out to do, what you accomplished, and how you accomplished it
Occurs periodically
May require special data and research, even external evaluators
The columns above summarize the differences between monitoring and evaluation and what each process entails.
Please note that an M&E system is only one part of the entire program and project management cycle and needs to be updated regularly.
You can report on specific data related to monitoring, such as an outcome, (which we will describe further in the tutorial), before you carry out an evaluation.

5. Why M&E To track and monitor work and progress
To learn from experience and evidence
To plan and allocate resources
To reflect on our work
To demonstrate accountability and transparency
To demonstrate results
Why is monitoring and evaluation important? The bullets above are a few examples of why a good M&E system is important.

6. Key Terms INPUTS - what you invest, resources
ACTIVITY/PROGRAM - interventions, what you offer or do
OUTPUT - what you did and who you served. Direct result from activities. Concrete and quantifiable.
OUTCOME - the change in program participants. Short or medium term. Concrete and quantifiable.
IMPACT - the change in society in the long-term. Often requires specialized studies.
There are many systems and tools used to monitor and evaluate programs and there is no one “best” M&E model, but the key terms that are listed above are commonly used in many M&E systems, including GFC’s.
Please note that for GFC’s M&E purposes, the most important term is “outcome”, because this is what we will be asking you to track and report on over the course of your GFC grant implementation.

7. Logic Framework INPUTS Time Money Donors Equipments Facilities
(Resources)
Time
Money
Donors
Equipments
Facilities
ACTIVITY/ PROGRAM
(Interventions)
Services
Trainings
Home Visits
Classes
Counseling Sessions
OUTPUT
(Direct result from interventions)
Who did we reach (numbers served)
What did we do? (action & frequency/duration)
OUTCOME
(Change in participants)
Behavior
Awareness
Knowledge
Skills
Practice
Attitude
IMPACT
(Change in Society)
Environment
Social condition
Political condition
Economic condition
Policy
As previously mentioned, there are many different tools to monitor and evaluate your programs. One commonly used tool is the logic framework. Not all organizations use this exact framework, but many monitoring and evaluation systems are based off of it, so it is a good tool to know.
A logic model or framework is often used in development and philanthropy. It’s not a perfect tool or the only tool, but it informs a lot of how people look at and approach monitoring and evaluation.
A logic framework describes an if/then correlation that you use when designing your programs to effect change on the lives of the children and communities you serve. When designing your programs, you are making assumptions that “if this holds then this will be achieved”.
The first part of a logic framework is your inputs. For any organization to do its work and do it well, it will need inputs. Inputs are what you invest in your program, the resources you use to implement your activities including time, money, donors, equipments, facilities, etc.
Your activity answers the question, “How will we get there?” Your activities are the programs, strategies, or services you offer. These are the interventions you are taking to try to effect change.
The question of what do we expect on our way there is answered by three indicators output, outcome, and impact. Let’s look at each individually
An output answers the question of who we reached and what we did. Outputs are concrete, quantifiable, and easy to measure.
Outcomes can be a little more difficult to measure. Outcomes are the short or medium term changes children experience after participating in your program. Your outcome answers the question “What is different about participants after they receive my intervention?”. Your outcome should also be concrete, quantifiable, and most importantly, it should be something your organization can measure.
Impact describes the larger change in society outside of your direct program participants. Impact is difficult to determine and often requires specialized studies, so we suggest you first focus on tracking your program inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes. This is why at GFC we don’t ask you about your impact indicators. We like to know your long term vision, but focus on how you collect and measure short term changes in your direct program participants through outcomes.
Let’s look at some examples of how organizations can use the logic model.

8. Exercise After-school tutoring and mentorship
One home visit was conducted per semester per student
20 hours of afterschool math lessons provided
Secondary school completion rates increase by 50% among students in program
80% of students in the afterschool tutoring program are accepted to university
University enrollment increases
ACTIVITY/PROGRAM
OUTPUT
OUTPUT
OUTCOME
Let’s look at an example of how one organization might approach M&E using the logic framework model.
This organization that addresses the problem of low university enrollment in its community.
Can you figure out why each of the pieces of data in the left-hand column correspond to each term on the right?
Why is “secondary school completions rates increase by 50% among students in the program” a good outcome?” It is specific, concrete, easily measurable by obtaining school records, and describes a specific change that has happened to the children the organization serves. The outcome can reasonably be attributed to the organization’s activities, which are focused on increasing academic performance. Because children can’t go to university without graduating from secondary school, it is also a good way to see if the organization is making progress towards its goal of addressing the problem of low university enrollment in its community.
In the same way, “80% of students in the afterschool tutoring program are accepted to university” is an even better outcome. It is easily measurable, concrete, quantifiable, and describes a medium-term change that has happened to students after they participate in the program. It is also directly related to the organization’s goal of getting more children to enroll in university. However, because this is a medium term change, it might take longer to track (since the organization will have to wait for children to reach the age of university enrollment), so it is a good idea to track the secondary school completion rate as well.
OUTCOME
IMPACT

9. Exercise Entrepreneurship trainings for youth
ACTIVITY
Entrepreneurship trainings for youth
2,000 hours of entrepreneurship trainings offered last year
All of the students received start up loans
50 percent of the students run their own businesses
Unemployment rate in the community decreases
OUTPUT
OUTPUT
OUTCOME
Here is another example.
This organization addresses the problem of high youth unemployment.
Can you figure out why the pieces of data on the left describe the organization’s activities, outputs, outcomes, or impact?
Why is “50 percent of the students run their own business” a good outcome? It is easily measured through a survey of the students or looking at business registration records, is quantifiable, can be seen as a related to the organization’s entrepreneurship training activities, and measures one way the organization is working towards its goal of reducing youth unemployment.
Why is “all of the students receive start up loans” an output and not an outcome? Presumably, the organization is giving the students start-up loans. Therefore, students receiving start up loans describes what the organization did, not a change that happened to program participants after they participated in the program. If the indicator was “50% of students successfully raised start-up funds on the open market” then it could serve as a good outcome of the program.
IMPACT

10. Exercise Community education on sexual and gender based violence
ACTIVITY/PROGRAM
Community education on sexual and gender based violence
Girls in the program report greater level of confidence about their rights
104 hours of training given to secondary school teachers
The police report a 20 percent increase in reports of sexual violence
5,000 educational materials on SGBV distributed
OUTCOME
OUTPUT
IMPACT
Here is a final example.
This organization addresses the problem of sexual and gender based violence against girls.
Can you figure out which of the pieces of data on the left describe the organization’s activities, outputs, outcomes, or impact?
Why is “girls in the program report greater level of confidence about their rights” a good outcome? It is measurable through before and after program participation surveys and is quantifiable (you can tell how many girls are more confident after participating in the program). It can reasonably be seen as a result of the organization’s program, which provides community education on sexual and gender based violence. It is also related to the organization’s goal of addressed the problem of sexual and gender based violence against girls because presumably if girls are more confident about their rights they will be able to resist and report instances of sexual and gender based violence.
Why is “the police report a 20 percent increase in reports of sexual violence” not an outcome? While this is a concrete and measurable change that does measure progress towards the organization’s goal, it is NOT a change that happened only to children who participated in the organization’s program. The survivors who are reporting sexual violence may be participants in the organization’s programs, but they may not be. Therefore, this indicator may be said to be an impact of the organization’s program, but is not a good outcome.
OUTPUT

11. Outcome Sample program outcome sentence:
Use the questions below to determine what program outcome (similar to the sample shown above) your organization would like to report to the Global Fund for Children. You may select options from the lists provided, or you may select “other” and write your own.
3. For the program described in question 2 above, what outcome (change) does the organization measure? If other:      
4. How does the organization collect data (measure) for this outcome? If other:      
5. Who is affected (benefits) in this outcome measure? If other:      
6. How much/how many did the organization count for this outcome last year?      
7. What is the target for this outcome next year?      
# or % (question 6)
What? (question 3)
How? (question 4)
Who? (question 5)
66% of program participants were successfully enrolled in formal school based on statistics from local schools.
Here is how GFC asks you to report on your program outcome in the Initial Primary Grant Application Form. We ask you to describe your interventions or activities, identify your core children’s program, define the short or medium change you want to see in your program participants and describe how you will measure that change.
So, for example, if you are running a nonformal school program with the goal of getting children into formal school, one outcome you might measure is the percentage of program participants who were successfully enrolled in formal school based on statistics from local schools. This outcome concretely defines the change (x% enrolled in formal school), the population showing this change (program participants) and how the organization measures that change (analyzing statistics from local schools).
Another example of a good outcome for a girls empowerment program is the number of program participants who demonstrated improved self-esteem based on pre and post program surveys. This outcome answers what change the organization is hoping to see (x number demonstrated improved self-esteem), the population that is showing this change (program participants), and how the organization is measuring that change (with pre and post program surveys).

12. Outcome
An outcome is the change you want to see in program participants
Should speak to your goals and objectives
Can be short-, medium-, or long-term
Concrete and measurable
Measure consistently
Let’s recap what makes a good outcome. A good outcomes should describe the short or medium term change you want to see in your program participants, should be a good way for you to measure your progress towards your goals and objectives, and should be concrete and measurable.
When devising your program outcome, think carefully about your program goals, what changes you hope to effect in the children you serve, and how you will measure this change.
Because outcome data is more useful if it can be analyzed over time, GFC will ask you to report on the same program outcome every year, so make sure that you will be able to measure the outcome you select consistently and that it will be useful to your organization.

13. Thank you for taking the time to go over this tutorial
Thank you for taking the time to go over this tutorial! We hope you have found it helpful.
If you still have questions about how to report your program outcome to GFC, please don’t hesitate to contact your program officer before submitting your Online Application Form.