Step 1: Preparing for your M&E

Task 1: Why do you want to do an evaluation?

It is important to know why you are initiating the M&E process now as it will help you figure out where to begin and how to approach your process. For example, if you want to use the M&E process to address why a program is not functioning as you had hoped, then the first thing you might want to do is check in with program staff who implement the program and look at some basic monitoring data. If on the other hand, a donor has just asked you what impact you had with a program that just ended, then you need to first clarify with them what their evaluation questions and needs are.

Common reasons for starting an Evaluation:

1. An existing program is having problems and you want to figure out what they are and how to address them.
2. You want to understand what an existing program accomplished or is accomplishing.
3. You are developing a program and want the M&E plan to be a part of the program plan from the start.
4. An external audience, most likely a donor, is interested in knowing your program’s impact.

Task 2: Review Program Objectives, Activities, and Implementation -is this the right time to invest in an M&E process?

Regardless of why you are starting your M&E process now, this is a good time to review the reasoning behind your program objectives and activities. This is essentially doing a mini monitoring and evaluation review of your work in order to decide if your program is really ready for a complete M&E process.

• It is very important to be clear about what you want to achieve with your program in order to design an effective evaluation. For example, if you review the reason for each activity and find that some activities are not well connected to an objective then you may want to re-consider that activity. Or you may review your training curriculum and find that some messages are not supporting your current thinking. Then you will likely want to revise your curriculum before before continuing your M&E process.
• You need to find out if the program is generally being implemented as planned before beginning your complete M&E process. For example, if you find that the women and men whom you most need to reach are not attending your workshops then you may want to focus on your recruitment efforts before beginning your evaluation. If this is the case, then you have already achieved something with your evaluation process.

Task 3: Evaluating your own program: Managing the risk

Conducting a program evaluation can be especially difficult for the people who have developed and are implementing the program. It is important from the outset to address what will happen with the results, and particularly what will happen if the results are not what you had hoped for. If you find that the program did not achieve its objectives- what will happen? Will these findings be used to modify the program? Will the program’s funding be impacted? Will anyone’s job be jeopardized?