5 Reasons Why Monitoring & Evaluation Is Good For NGOs

As M & E expert, the monitoring and evaluation course is increasingly becoming popular in development work and organizational operations. 20 years ago, monitoring and evaluation certification was optional in many hiring organizations, and the focus mostly was on ensuring that work was done without measuring effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and relevance.

However, the demand to demonstrate the impact of work and to account for the resources used for implementing projects and programs has significantly increased and both public and private organizations.

NGOs are expected to make their operations as transparent and accountable as possible by providing a clear-cut picture from day one regarding where, why, and how every dollar is spent and whether it’s contributing to fostering any change in the community of interest.

It is vital for NGOs to showcase tangible results and exhibit discernible improvements in the lives of the beneficiaries or the lack of them with clear data evidence.

Here are 5 reasons why M&E is essential for NGOs;

1. Greater transparency and accountability

One of the greatest benefits of M&E is helping organizations to track, analyze and report on relevant information and data throughout the life cycle of a project.

This allows the project team to provide robust evidence for all their actions and decisions to stakeholders, donors, and community members from day one.

On the other hand, stakeholders and donors acquire the information and understanding they need to collaborate, communicate, provide inputs and make informed decisions about strategy improvements and project operations.

2. Improved project performance

A well-planned M&E helps the project team to get a better understanding of the target population’s needs. This helps to define the scope of the project and design objectives that are relevant, measurable, and achievable.

 A well-defined M&E plan also clarifies the process and interventions that will lead to the project’s outputs and deliverables. Moreover, M&E helps the team to plan an end-to-end indicator management system, and identify effective tools and methodologies to measure, analyze and demonstrate every intervention and its impact on expected outcomes.

3. Effective resource allocation

All project operations are interwoven around project budgets. The amount of available cash dictates the duration and magnitude of interventions, choices of resources, number of employees, etc.

M&E is an effective tool for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of finances in project implementation. M&E facilitates the estimation of the value, worth, and impact of project components; and enables the team to verify what works and what doesn’t and where more money should be invested or where the budget should be cut.

4. Promotes learning & data-driven decision making

M&E data provides quantifiable results to help the involved parties to learn from project successes and challenges and be more adaptive.

 Involved parties are better prepared to respond to the ever-evolving project situations through project management, determine what worked and what did not and why it did not work and how it could be improved, and make revisions based on data evidence, rather than assumptions.

5. Systematic management of the organization

M&E also functions as a performance management tool as it facilitates organizations to gather, disseminate and utilize information and data to improve their internal operations and add value to their organization. Organizations can thus focus on their objectives such as enhancing performance, encouraging innovation, sharing and integrating lessons learned for continuous improvement, etc.

In Conclusion,

Every organization needs a monitoring and evaluation system, whether a small business or corporation, to oversee the progress of the projects and determine if they’re successful. Without robust M&E, the project is vulnerable to failure, and you can lose the trust of stakeholders.