Introduction to Developing, Monitoring
and Evaluating Projects
Noah Keuzenkamp
TGEU Capacity Building Officer
noah@tgeu.org
Overview

Project development

Monitoring & Evaluation

Putting both together: LogFrames

Group Exercise

Presentations

A few points to keep in mind

Questions
Baseline
Who has developed a project before?
Who has written a fundraising application with a monitoring &
evaluation plan before?
Who has monitored a project before?
Who has evaluated a project before?
Who knows what a LogFrame is?
Thinking about project development
with a logic model
Key terms
Goal
(Impact)
Outcomes
Outputs
Activities
•The broad impact to which the project contributes – e.g. at the
national level or over the long-term. Your project may not achieve
this immediately/by itself.
•Example: The trans* community obtains more funding
OR: To build the capacity of the trans* community to obtain funding
•The outcome at the end of the project – often the expected
benefits to the target group(s)
•Key words: “increased, improved, etc.”
•Example: Participants have increased knowledge of M&E
•The direct/tangible results (goods &services) that the project
delivers (mainly under your control)
•Key words: “delivered, produced, conducted, etc.”
•Example: M&E workshop delivered to 20 participants
•The main tasks carried out to eventually deliver the outputs
•Key words: “prepare, design, develop, research, etc.”
•Example: Develop a workshop on M&E
Goal
Outcomes
The broad impact to which the project contributes:
Trans* concerns are better represented in politics
Expected outcome/benefit at the end of the project:
Trans* rights were mentioned 5 times in parliament
INTENDED
Key terms: another example
Direct results delivered:
Briefings delivered to 30 parliamentarians
Activities
Tasks carried out:
Identify friendly parliamentarians and organise meetings
PLANNED
Outputs
Thinking about project development
with a logic model
How do we know we are
approaching our goal?
Monitoring:
the systematic and routine collection of information
during the implementation of a project to assess
whether the project is progressing as planned
Evaluation:
a systematic and ‘objective’ assessment of a completed
project, especially its outcomes and impact, in order to
inform future strategic decisions and projects
Development, Monitoring &
Evaluation in the Project Cycle
Why conduct M&E?
In practice often:

Because it is a donor condition

To show that you are doing what you are funded for

To obtain more funding in the future
But, it can also:

Help you learn and improve

Help you understand how change works (or doesn‘t)

Help you create, preserve and disseminate knowledge

Make you accountable to your communitie(s)
Logical Framework Matrix
(LogFrame)



Helps you systematically develop, plan, implement,
monitor and evaluate a project
Presents clear and organised connections between
impact, outcome, outputs and activities
Many donors use/require (a kind of) LogFrame
Using a LogFrame
Project
Summary
Indicators
Means of
Assumptions
Verification (MoV)
Goal
Outcomes
Outputs
Activities
If...
then
Monitoring &
Evaluation
Horizontal logic
Project
Summary
Goal
Outcome
Output
Activity
Indicators
Means of
Assumptions
Verification (MoV)
Variables/
information used
to measure
change in a
process or
phenomenon
The source of
the indicators
and the means
of obtaining
them.
= M&E method
for obtaining
information
Assumptions
that need to be
fulfilled to
eventually
achieve your
goal
Indicators: examples
„More positive public attitude towards trans*
people“

Increase in number of positive news items

Decrease in number of hostile statements by politicans

Increase in positive attitude of individuals (survey)

Gender identity is included in anti-discrimination laws

... Etc.
Indicators: examples
„Trans* people are more visible in society“

...

...

...
Indicators: SMART
S
Specific
E.g. nr of people, % increase
M
Measurable
Can it be measured in general? Can you
measure it?
A
Achievable
Is this realistic?
R
Relevant
Does it measure the ‘concept’? Or: reliable
T
Time-bound
By when or from when to when
Not SMART: People will know more about M&E
SMART: By the end of the workshop, 70% of people who
didn‘t know what a LogFrame is report that they know
„fairly well“ how to fill in a LogFrame
Means of verification (Mov)
Method for collecting indicators to conduct monitoring
and evaluation, e.g.








Surveys / Questionnaires
Focus groups
Observation
Official statistics
News reports
Photos
Testimonies / stories
Etc...
This workshop: full example
Project
Summary
Goal
Outcomes
Outputs
Activities
The trans*
activist
community is
well funded
70% of
participants have
increased
knowledge of
M&E
Workshop on
M&E delivered
to 20 people
Develop a
workshop on
M&E
Indicators
Means of
Assumptions
Verification (MoV)
Income of
participating
organisations
rises by 20% by
2016
Online survey
- M&E plans
are key in grant
writing
-Participants
will write grants
Nr. of
participants who
report having
gained
knowledge
Nr. of
participants
Questionnaire
handed out after
session (selfreport)
LogFrames are
not too
complex
Sign-in sheet
Inputs
Staff, time,
technology, etc.
Cost
Work time, travel,
accommodation
etc. = ?
People are
interested in
M&E
Preconditions
TGEU has
capacity to
deliver
Noah‘s Ark
Project
Summary
Goal
Earth remains
populated by
people and
animals
Outcomes
All people and
animals have
survived the
flood on the Ark
Ark is loaded
with people and
pairs of all
animals
Outputs
Activities
Build ark
Indicators
Means of
Assumptions
Verification (MoV)
- Plant life
Census count
Census survey
returns
100 years after
- All animal
the flood
pairs can/want
to reproduce
Census count
Checklist upon
- No one will
after landing
unloading
die from illness
- Food will not
run out
Census count on Checklist upon
Animals can be
the Ark
boarding
found and will
happily get on
the Ark
Input
Cost
Preconditions
Wood
Barter
Can find a safe
Noah’s time and
plot of land to
skills
build on
Sometimes it‘s better not to be Noah

When developing a new project, resist the temptation to
(always) start with the Ark, i.e.(specific) activities:
„We should run a training, because that‘s what we usually do“



Starting with the goal or the problem and then working
from top to bottom is better for productive brainstorming
and creative problem solving
Working from top to bottom also helps identifying the best
target groups or stakeholders
Use the LogFrame as a tool for logical and creative
thinking
Group Exercise

Brainstorm about what the main problems are

Your project only needs to contribute to the goal

Complete 1-2 outcomes/outputs/activities first, then add
more if you have time

Resist the temptation to start with the activities

Write your LogFrame on flipchart paper

Agree on presenter(s)
Time for preparation: 30 mins
A few points to keep in mind
When writing a grant proposal




Language matters (concise and precise)
Terminology choice matters (what does the donor
use?)
Describing activities: usually active verbs and present
tense, e.g. „compile a factsheet“, „perform a play“
Describing outputs and outcomes: usually past tense,
e.g. „confidence has increased“, „question has been
raised in parliament“
A few points to keep in mind

Don’t let the language of donors confuse you
e.g. outcome = purpose / (intermediate) objective / result



The same outcomes can be measured with different indicators:
chose the one(s) best suited to your goals and resources
(money, time, skills, technology, …)
Evaluation does not always have to be quantitative: qualitative
data, such as personal stories, can be used, too
M&E is political: who determines what the outcomes should be?
who is asked for their opinion? who conducts the evaluation?
( feminist evaluation)
Questions?
Noah Keuzenkamp
noah@tgeu.org
What should be SMART?
SMART outcome with a variable as indicator:


Outcome: 80% of participants have increased their knowledge
to a „good“ level by the end of the project
Indicator (variable): Number of participants with „good“
knowledge
Outcome with a SMART indicator:


Outcome: Participants‘ knowledge is increased
Indicator: 80% have a „good“ level of knowledge by the end of
the project
Concept vs Indicators
1: Trans*
people‘s
report of
how safe
they feel
Trans* people
are SAFER in
our city
4: Nr. of
trans*
customers at
LGBT bars
2: Nr. of
attacks on
trans*
people
reported to
police
3: The nr. of
anti-Pride
protestors
Indicators
Sometimes they are direct:
Planned outcome: A trans* person gets elected into parliament
Indicator: Did a trans* person get elected into parliament?
But usually they are indirect:
Especially when talking about social change, attitudes,
knowledge, awareness, skills, etc.
Example: this workshop
I could monitor:





Baseline: what was people‘s knowledge before?
Status: how many people are in the room? How many
people are listening?
Trend: are people leaving? Switching off? Getting
more engaged?
Implementation: is the workshop being implemented?
Are there interruptions?
(Ongoing) effectiveness: are people learning
something right now?
Example: this workshop
I could evaluate:




Efficiency: was a workshop the best/cheapest method
for people to learn about M&E?
Effectiveness: did people learn about M&E?
Outcome/Impact: do people feel better prepared to
complete an M&E plan? will they use the knowledge
when writing funding applications? will they get more
funding?
Sustainability: will people still remember this in a
year? will they pass the knowledge on?
What is a project?

„An individual or collaborative enterprise that is
carefully planned to achieve a particular aim”
(Oxford Dictionary)

Has a start and end date

Has constraints (time, money, resources,...)

Aims to create change
Introduction
“I would like to have money for a project to…”