INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Capacity Building and Evaluation
Background
We work with NGOs, CBOs, and other community organisations which share our passion for delivering positive change, supporting them in developing, implementing, and evaluating their interventions.
Many of our projects involve working closely with NGOs, including as programme designers, advisors, evaluators, supporting these organisations as they grow, take on new projects, apply for grant funding, or prepare for transition following the conclusion of a funded programme.
We have seen, and understand, the challenges often faced, and work directly with organisations to mitigate them through building internal capacity, developing or adjusting programme frameworks and theories of change, providing technical support to project managers during project design or restructure, and supporting in developing sustainability and exit strategies to ensure the organisation can continue to operate post-funding.
Over the past eight years, we have delivered and supported participatory mid-term and final evaluations for UN Agencies, NGOs, and not-for-profits in five countries.
Case Study
The Challenge
Two NGOs are running youth-focused projects in different sectors (one focused on youth in care and careleavers, the other with youth accessing music and heritage) faced similar challenges.
Both wanted to refine their operational models, update their Theory of Change, build the capacity of their teams, enhance their M&E processes, and develop a sustainability strategy.
Our team, working with local partners, were brought in to provide this capacity-building support
The Outcome
Through a participatory approach which involved desk reviews, meetings with management and staff, focus groups, workshops, and training programmes for staff, and direct engagement with beneficiaries, we were able to collaboratively develop a new approach to the implementation, and monitoring, of these two projects.
Whilst we continue to provide practical support to both NGOs as needed, the results to date include new operating models and frameworks, a re-imagined Theories of Change which places beneficiaries, culture, and wellbeing at their core, new suites of M&E tools to support monitoring and evaluability, and improved morale and wellbeing throughout the teams.