Value for money and what it means for UK
NGOs
Busan CSO Forum November 2011
Presenter: Sara Cottingham (VSO)
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Contributors to the BEP
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The Bond Effectiveness Programme
(BEP) and Value for Money
…a three year process of supporting UK NGOs in improving how they assess
and demonstrate their contribution to social development; this involves
1.
Developing agreement and supporting implementation of a sector wide
framework of shared indicators and data collection tools (Improve it
Framework); and an online effectiveness self-assessment and
resource portal (CESA).
2.
Building knowledge and skills to support members to measure and
manage effectiveness and value for money
3.
Supporting greater transparency within the sector by helping UK
NGOs to comply with this International Aid Transparency Initiative
(IATI) and encouraging greater disclosure of performance data.
4.
Creating an enabling environment that encourages and supports
organisations to deliver improvements in their effectiveness
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Why focus on VfM now?
•
Key component for improving NGO effectiveness
•
Donors are putting more emphasis on VfM
•
Accountability
•
Narrative
•
Engaging proactively with VfM means we can help promote the
approaches that work best for CSOs and shape the use of the concept in
international development
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What is VfM?
“before investing, time, resources and energy into an activity or programme weigh
up the costs (what is being put in) and benefits (what is being achieved) of different
options and be able to make the case for why the chosen approach is the best use
of limited resources”
“Effective programmes first and foremost do the right thing, but also do it efficiently”
Value for Money =
Economy
Efficiency
Effectiveness
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VfM is putting forward a defensible case
•
Justifies the programme intervention and provides the best results given the
available resources
•
Provides a clear analysis of what constitutes value for money to achieve its
mission
•
Clearly communicates the systems and procedures in place to monitor and
manage value for money during the implementation of the programme
•
Has a strong focus on results – and robust data
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A framework for engaging with VfM
Improved
value for money
…compare value for money
across programmes where
comparative data can be
generated
Comparing
value for
money
Demonstrating
value for
money
…demonstrating value for
money through evaluation
of programme outcomes
Managing for value for money
…manage for value for money - right processes
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Proactively shaping VfM agenda
Avoids
•
A focus on low cost – and not development outcomes
•
Unhelpful competition between CSOs
•
Unhelpful competition with other providers
•
Development becoming all about monetising outcomes
•
Promotes
•
Sharing of approaches – now prioritising Southern partners
•
Improving together
•
Integrity of sector
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Key Points
1.
VfM is not just about econometric calculations, its a way of
approaching program design, implementation and
evaluation – building a defensible case
2.
VfM requires an NGO to speak robustly about results, so
cannot be divorced from the wider effectiveness agenda.
3.
The VfM agenda is not new
4.
Approaches that compare value for money could produce
dramatic improvements in NGOs work
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