Print Page: Word; PDF

Tips

Module 1: Getting Started

• Are Stakeholders and Audience Members the Same People?
• Benefits of Involving Stakeholders Throughout the M&E Process
• Donors as Stakeholders and Primary Audience
• Understanding Your Audience’s Needs
• What Are the Costs of Stakeholder Meetings?
• Where Can You Find Someone with Monitoring and Evaluation Knowledge?
• Whose Attention Do You Want to Get?
• Why Involve Staff with Authority?

Are Stakeholders and Audience Members the Same People?

Not always. The difference between stakeholders and the audience is that stakeholders already are interested in your program and directly participate in the M&E process, while the audience members are consumers of the information contained in the M&E findings. Some audience members may be stakeholders (for example, some donors or key decision-makers), but others may not (for example, opposition legislators to whom you want to present your findings). Your audience may be people who don’t know about the program, who may not even think they are interested in the program, or who may even oppose the program. Also see Tips: Donors as Stakeholders and Primary Audience

Benefits of Involving Stakeholders Throughout the M&E Process

Back | Back to Top

Donors as Stakeholders and Primary Audience

While it is important to provide the donor with the kind of information she or he wants, it is also important not to limit your M&E to the donor’s information needs. By involving the donor from the beginning of the M&E process as a key stakeholder, you will be able to agree on their priorities but also situate them within your own needs and those of other stakeholders.

Understanding Your Audience’s Needs

How can you find out what questions are most relevant to your potential audiences? If possible, you should ask them directly. It’s a good idea to meet with some of the members of key audience groups, or even invite them in to hear about your M&E plans and give you input about what questions they would want answered.

What Are the Costs of Stakeholder Meetings?

Remember to budget some money for meetings with your stakeholders. You probably won’t have to pay for their time, but you should offer them some food or provide childcare and maybe reimburse their travel costs.

Where Can You Find Someone with Monitoring and Evaluation Knowledge?

A student or faculty member from the local university or a researcher in your community may be willing to be a part of your team. It is not necessary that the outside person be responsible for the M&E process, but can assist the team with certain skills, such as instrument development or qualitative and/or quantitative data analysis. If possible, this person should be involved in the initial stages as well as when you are ready to plan and execute the analysis of the data.

Whose Attention Do You Want to Get?

You can tailor your evaluation to provide data in a format that would be useful for a particular situation or audience. For example, if the people that you’re trying to address are government economists, then the evidence that you need will likely be more quantitative information. By contrast, qualitative data may be particularly useful for legislators and media.

Why Involve Staff with Authority?

It is always important to invite staff with the authority to make decisions to participate in monitoring and evaluation. M&E that involves only participants with limited organizational decision-making power is sometimes met with frustration and disappointment when trying to make changes based on the results. The participation of staff with authority and power to act on findings is essential.

Back | Back to Top