Planning For Monitoring and Evaluation

Planning for Monitoring and Evaluation
Module 1: Introduction to Monitoring and Evaluation

Welcome to this course on planning for monitoring and evaluation! We are glad to have
you with us.
If you are in this course, it is likely that you are already doing the difficult work of improving
the world. If so, you know how confusing, complex and unexpected this work can be. It
can be difficult to understand the causes of complex problems, whether specific solutions
work, and why some projects succeed while others do not.
This course will prepare you to use facts and evidence to understand these puzzles.
Specifically, this course will teach you how to make a plan to collect, manage and use
project information (data). Before we get started, let’s learn a few important terms.
KEY TERMS
 Monitoring
Collecting project information regularly to measure the progress of your project
or activity. This helps to track performance over time and to make informed
decisions about the effectiveness of projects and the efficient use of resources.
 Evaluation
Evaluation measures how well the project activities have achieved the project’s
objectives and how much changes in outcomes can be directly linked to a
project’s interventions. Together, we will refer to monitoring and evaluation as
M&E.
 Data
Data is the information that we collect about our project. Data can be collected in
many ways, including with surveys, interviews or research. Data is used for both
monitoring and evaluation.
 Bias
The beliefs that you have about people, the world, or your project. Biases are
not supported by data and may be incorrect.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
In today’s class, you will be introduced to the big concepts of M&E. In this module, you will
learn how to:
 Explain why monitoring and evaluation are important
 Discuss the differences between monitoring and evaluation
 Understand the role of monitoring and evaluation in the project cycle
TIME REQUIRED TO COMPLETE THIS MODULE
1 hour 20 minutes
 15 minutes reading
 2 minutes watching videos
 5 minutes discussing
 13 minutes completing quizzes
 45 minutes completing your Introduction Document
The Importance of M&E

Imagine two fictional projects. Both projects belong to the same organization: a civil
society organization in Kenya that is dedicated to improving the lives of local girls.
The first project is Girls Organizing for Ongoing Development (GOOD), a project that will
help local girls to open savings accounts. GOOD’s project manager took this course last
month, and she has already created a fantastic M&E plan.
Her team knows precisely what its goals are: they want to open 1200 new savings
accounts for girls in 34 Kenyan villages in the next six months. And they will know how well
they are doing, too, because they have already decided how they will measure progress:
every field office will have one person recording how many girls open savings accounts. In
addition, they have plans to collect information on how the savings accounts change their
beneficiaries lives, what beneficiaries think about the project, and how the project can be
improved. In a year, when it’s time to write the annual report for their funders and partners,
they will be ready to say exactly how successful their project was. And if anything starts to
go wrong, they will be able to catch the problem right away and make any necessary
changes.
The second project is Microfinance for Expanding Horizons (MEH), a project that will let
girls borrow small amounts of money (microloans). MEH knows that their donor will want
to see some data, but they do not know how to get it. In fact, they are not totally sure what
they should be measuring. Some people on the team think that they should measure how
many loans they give out. Other team members think that they should measure how many
businesses they help to get started. Either way, they know they will need an M&E plan
fast!
Clearly, GOOD is off to a great start. But there is still hope for MEH! They still have time to
create an M&E plan. Throughout this course, we will help MEH prepare their plan. By
helping MEH prepare their M&E plan, you’ll learn how to create a plan for your own
project.
Understanding M&E
Perhaps GOOD - the team with the M&E plan - reminds you of your project. If so,
congratulations! Your M&E system is off to a great start. This course will help you to
deepen your knowledge and improve your M&E plan.
However, you may find that your project more closely resembles MEH, the team without
any M&E plan. If MEH reminds you of your project, don't worry! You are in exactly the right
place. This course will help you plan for an existing project by:
 Deeply understanding your project’s goals
 Deciding what to measure
 Developing tools and methods for measurement
 Figuring out which of your team members should collect, manage, analyze, and
use data
By the end of this course you will have written and developed an M&E plan: a set of tools
and documents to support your M&E system and guide your project to success. Before we
start our work, however, let’s take a moment to really understand those two terms:
monitoring and evaluation.
WHAT ARE “MONITORING AND EVALUATION?”
When you were in school, you probably had a teacher who would give you feedback every
few days. Daily, weekly, or monthly, she would check the work that you were doing, make
comments, and help you out if she saw that you were having trouble. The same teacher
might also, every few months, give you a grade or a mark that summarized how well you
had done.
The work that we do on projects is similar. Daily, weekly or monthly we check our projects
to see how we are doing. This work is called monitoring, and it gives us the power to make
informed decisions. Every few months - perhaps once a quarter, once a year, or at the end
of a project - we take a look at all the work we have done, compare it to the original project
plan and assess how successful we’ve been. This work is called evaluation.
Monitoring and evaluation both depend on carefully collecting data about our project,
thinking about what the data mean, and using the data to answer questions. The
difference between monitoring and evaluation is how often the data are used, the
kinds of data that are looked at, and what the data are used for.
Monitoring data are used regularly: daily, weekly, or monthly. Monitoring data are used to
answer questions such as:
 Is our project reaching its targets?
 Is our project spending money and resources efficiently?
 Have any problems come up?
 Have we noticed any successes?
Evaluation data are only used at specific times. For example, evaluation data may be used
every year, halfway through the project, or at the end of the project. Evaluation data are
used to answer questions like:
 Did our project achieve what it planned on achieving?
 Was our project a good use of money and resources?
 Did something happen that we didn’t plan?
 Did we learn something unexpected?
TRY THIS:
Think about your project. What are some questions that you have? Could these questions
be answered with data? Write down as many monitoring and evaluation questions as you
can.
ONE MORE NOTE ON M&E
Whether we’re talking about monitoring or evaluation, the overall approach is the same:
we are collecting facts and data to inform our decisions.
Let’s think about the example of the teacher again. Perhaps you can think of one teacher
you had who had a reputation for being unfair. They gave their favorite students high
scores, and they gave low scores to students that they disagreed with. This teacher let
their biases - their beliefs about the world - get in the way of seeing how well students
were really doing.
We each have our own biases. These are our expectations for how the world should work
or how our project should go. A strong M&E practice will allow us to be aware of our
biases and to set them aside by collecting true, unbiased information. When used
properly, M&E leads to better, less-biased project management. We call this approach
evidence-based management.
Throughout this course, we will be pushing you to think like an M&E expert by collecting
data and testing your biases.
CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING
Checkboxes
10/10 points (graded)
The list below has several examples of monitoring activities, and several examples of evaluation
activities. Select ALL of the monitoring activities.
recording how much money your project is spending
deciding whether your project was more effective than a different project
discovering which part of your project made the biggest difference
tracking how many people are participating in your project
correct
M&E Plans
This course will introduce you to many of the fundamental concepts of M&E and will help
you to prepare an M&E plan for your project. Let’s take a look at the work you will do in
this course.
CREATING AN M&E PLAN
An M&E plan is a set of documents that state which information you will collect, how it will
be collected, and what you will do with the information.
M&E plans are often required by donors. Whether or not they are required, however, M&E
plans contain extremely useful tools. A well-prepared M&E plan will help your team
coordinate roles and responsibilities, and it will make sure that everyone knows exactly
what needs to be done - and why.
While there are many different formats for M&E plans, most M&E plans contain the
following parts:
1. Introduction Document
2. Logical Framework (logframe)
3. Indicators Document
4. Data Flow Map
5. Roles and Responsibilities Chart
6. Plan for Data Quality Management
7. Plan for Data Analysis and Use
Together, these documents will tell you, your team and your donors exactly how you
intend to collect, manage, analyze and use data. We will explain each of these documents
later, and by the time you are done with the course, you will have completed the majority
of your M&E plan.
Note: Some organizations use the name “M&E plan” to refer to a single document that
lists indicators and targets. In this course, we will call this type of document an “Indicators
Document.” When we refer to “M&E plans,” we are talking about a group of planning
documents, not a single document.
About this Course

WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR?
This course is designed for project implementers: people who work to make sure that
projects succeed. This may include project managers, M&E staff, researchers, or anybody
who will collect, manage, analyze or use data.
The best time to develop an M&E plan is before a project starts, but after it has been
designed. If you are still defining the problem that your project will address, or deciding on
activities, this course will be less helpful. A course that may be helpful for projects still
defining their strategic approach is “Essentials of Non-Profit Strategy.”
“Planning for Monitoring and Evaluation” will help you to think and plan like an M&E
expert. However, this course is not designed to help you build a complete M&E system for
your entire organization. Instead, this course will focus on preparing an M&E plan for an
individual project: a set of activities with a defined start and end date, a group of
beneficiaries and target outcomes.
Your Guides to M&E

MEET FHI 360
Your guide to M&E is FHI 360: a nonprofit human development organization dedicated to
improving lives in lasting ways by advancing integrated, locally driven solutions.
The experts at FHI 360 have helped thousands of civil society organizations,
governments, companies, and communities around the world solve difficult problems.
They have seen the value of solid M&E plans, and their expertise will guide all the content
in this course.
MEET NOPE
We will also be checking in with Peter Njuguna from the National Organization of Peer
Educators (NOPE) every week to get his perspective on collecting and using data. NOPE
is a Nairobi-based organization that supports vulnerable and marginalized populations
throughout Kenya and East Africa with health and social programs. Strong M&E plans are
an integral part of NOPE’s strategy. In each module, he will explain how they use M&E in
one of their projects.
Peter works on M&E, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and program
management at NOPE. Watch the video below to meet Peter and learn about his
organization.
Hi, my name is Peter Njuguna. I welcome you to this wonderful course. Today we
are going to discuss introduction to my organization as we continue to learn
about monitoring and evaluation. I am the monitoring and evaluation
manager for NOPE. I also play a key role in ICT and program management.
Before I became the monitoring and evaluation manager
I played key roles in ICT and administration.
As an ICT expert I had a
lot of interest in human beings.
Through that it was possible for me to get into
monitoring and evaluation which measures
the amount of change we've had on human lives.
NOPE's vision is to see healthy lives we
also want to see that development is sustained within the community.
We have been in Kenya since 2001.
NOPE was started as an association of
peer educators who came together to form
an association but later on felt that
they needed to have a more structured way of responding to their needs, so they
registered a national organization that would access funds, that would organize
them and reach communities with impact.
We are working on a livelihoods
project called Wezesha Jamii which means to
empower communities. This project aims at
increasing livelihood opportunities for women, domestic workers, and small-scale traders.
It also increases their voices.
We developed a culture of monitoring and
evaluation by ensuring that at every meeting we track our indicators and also
that every staff member owns up data.
Monitoring and evaluation has allowed us
to understand our impact. It is possible for us to measure how much we've been
able to achieve. It also makes us transparent to our communities. It gives
us opportunity for us to go to our donors and show evidence of how much
we've been able to do. For example, we've been able to reach to
over 100 workplaces, we've been able to reach to more than a million young
people, we've been able to reach to more than 30 thousand women and we've been
able to reach to more than 50 thousand adolescent girls and young women.
This Course's Focus

M&E is a huge topic. You could get an entire university degree in M&E and still not learn
everything that you would like to learn about the subject. M&E is also a subject that should
be mixed into everything that your organization does, from project design to financing to
fundraising. Clearly, we won’t be able to cover it all in this course! So, before we get
started, let’s specify exactly what we are going to focus on.
This course will focus on data collection and management.

There are other parts of an M&E system that we won’t explore. Other parts of the M&E
system include:
 Data Verification
 Data Quality
 Data Analysis & Use
These are all very interesting subjects that we won’t have the time to explore in this
course.
This course will mostly focus on collecting data for monitoring.

Monitoring and evaluation are equally important. A complete M&E plan will prepare for
both tasks, and we will discuss how to prepare for both monitoring and evaluation in this
course. However, this course will mostly focus on monitoring for two reasons:
1. Evaluation is a very complex task. Many organizations hire evaluation experts to
do this properly. So, we will only begin to explore this subject.
2. If you collect data for monitoring, you will be better prepared for evaluation. The
information that you collect for monitoring is often the same information that
evaluation experts will use.
This course will focus on the planning part of the project cycle.
We will talk more about what this means on the next page.
The Project Cycle
The Project Cycle
Take a look at the graphic above. It shows the stages that every well-designed project
should go through. Notice that it’s a circle, not a straight line. That is because as you go
through a project you will learn a lot. What you learn will help with the development of the
next project. That is why we call this the project cycle.
M&E should be used at every stage of the project cycle. Organizations with great M&E
systems start collecting data even before they decide what kind of project they are
creating. This phase is called formative research, and it involves researching the problem
that you would like to address. In the picture above, it is labeled as Step 1. Unfortunately,
we will not have time to explore formative research in this course.
This course will talk a bit about Step 2: Develop Logframe and Indicators. That is the step
in the project cycle where you answer big questions like “what problem are we solving?”
and “what activities and services will we provide?”
We will spend most of our time on Step 3: Generate an M&E Plan. This is the part of the
project cycle where you decide which information you will collect, how you will collect it,
and what you will do with it. In fact, by the time you finish this course, you will have created
most of the parts of your M&E plan.
It is a good idea to focus on Step 3 because, if you create a great M&E plan, you will have
a much easier time throughout the rest of our project cycle.
Course Assignments and M&E Plan

Think of a project that you are working on. This could be a project that is starting soon, a
project that has already started, or a project that you would like to start someday. If you
are not working on anything, you will need to imagine a project that you would like to work
on. Throughout this course, you are going to be building an M&E plan for this project.
Let’s review the list of documents that usually go into an M&E plan:
1. Introduction Document
2. Logical Framework (Logframe)
3. Indicators Document
4. Data Flow Map
5. Roles and Responsibilities Chart
6. Plan for Data Quality Management
7. Plan for Data Analysis and Use
Note that this is not a complete list of everything that might be included in an M&E plan.
Some organizations will want more detail on how you will conduct your evaluations or
reporting, for example.
In this course, you will create the first five documents in this list - Introduction Document,
Logical Framework, Indicators Document, Data Flow Map, and Roles and Responsibilities
Chart - as course assignments. The final two documents - Plan for Data Quality
Management and Plan for Data Analysis and Use - we will not discuss in much detail. That
is because these two documents require mastering some areas of M&E that we will not
have the time to learn about.
A LOOK AHEAD
There are several steps to creating an M&E plan. Here is a look at the work we will do:
 Know your project

Your M&E plan is a set of tools that will help you measure progress towards
your goals. That is why your first step is to understand exactly what those goals
are. You will learn how to do this in Module 2. In this module, you will create a
Logical Framework, also known as a Logframe.
 Choose your indicators
Indicators are the things that you measure. Sometimes your donors tell you what
to measure and sometimes it is up to you, but typically it can be a bit of both.
You will choose indicators in Module 3. In this module, you will create an
Indicators Document.
 Decide how you will measure your indicators
There are many ways to collect data, and you will have to choose our methods
carefully. You will make these decisions in Module 4.
 Create tools
Tools can be surveys on a computer or papers in a notebook. Either way, you
will need to create your tools thoughtfully. You will create tools in Module 4. In
this module, you will create a Participant Tracking Form.
 Define responsibilities
Collecting, managing, analyzing and using data will probably involve lots of
people. You will decide who will do which tasks in Module 5. In this module, you
will create a Roles and Responsibilities Chart and a Data Flow Map.
 Decide how data will be analyzed and used
Our final goal is to use our data to improve our project and to decide how
successful it was. This is not a subject that we will be able to discuss fully in this
course. However, you will begin to think about data analysis and use in Module
5.
Course Assignments
Course Assignments
Courses on the University don't just teach you about ideas. This course, like every course
on the University, will help you to actually improve your organization.
To do that, you will create an M&E plan for an existing project. This may be a project that
is starting soon or a project that has already started. If you do not have a real project to
work on, you will need to think of an imaginary project that you can plan for.
After every module, your assignment will be to create part of your M&E plan for this
project. Assignments can take a long time and require a lot of effort. However, we believe
that this effort will be worth it. That is because, by the time you complete the course, you
will have almost all the pieces of a standard M&E plan put together. Your M&E plan will be
a valuable tool for managing your project and a document that you can share with donors.
On the next page, you will receive your first assignment. Right now, choose which project
you will plan for.
(Optional) If you have already got some project documents ready, take them out. Here are
a few types of documents you may wish to find:
 A project proposal
 A project logframe or other project plan
 Any existing data collection tools
 Any existing M&E plan
 Module 1 Assignment: Introduction Document

 The first part of any M&E Plan is the Introduction Document. This document
explains the goal of your M&E plan and provides some background information on
your organization and your project.
Your first assignment is to complete an Introduction Document for your M&E plan.
Before you start, gather any project design or project planning documents that you
already have. You may find that you have already completed pieces of the
Introduction Document in these documents. You may also want to work with other
members of your organization to complete this assignment.
 The prompts below will ask you to provide the information typically included in an
Introduction Document. Complete each prompt and press the "Submit" button at
the bottom of this page.
 45 minutes
 Note: Focus on answering Prompt A: What is the purpose of this M&E plan?
The remainder of the prompts provide important information about your project and
organization. Donors and partners will be very interested in the answers to these
questions, so take some time to prepare your responses. However, you will not be
assessed on your responses to these prompts.
Congratulations!
Well done! You have learned the basics of M&E. Let’s review some of the things we have
discussed:
 Projects collect data for two purposes: monitoring and
evaluation. Monitoring means collecting data daily, weekly or monthly and
using this information to adjust the project. Evaluation means comparing the
project results to the project plans and judging how successful the project was.
 M&E is not just for making your donors happy. M&E makes you a better
decision maker. It helps you understand how your project is doing so that you
can make the right choices.
 This course will help you make an M&E plan. M&E is a huge subject, and we
will not come close to covering it all. However, if you follow the steps in this
course, you will have a great plan for collecting and managing your project’s
data.
If you would like to use the Introduction Document template that we used today in your M&E plan,
you can download the templates below:
 Introduction Document Template (pdf)
 Introduction Document Template (doc)
Module 2: Linking M&E to Project Design
Welcome to Module 2 of Planning for Monitoring and Evaluation! In this module, we will be
reviewing the project design process using a tool called a logical framework, or logframe.
In the last module, you learned that there are six steps to creating an M&E plan. Today,
you are going to do step one:
Know your project.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
In this module, you will learn how to:

 Describe the components of a logframe
 Explain how the logframe serves as the foundation for M&E activities
 Assess whether activities will lead to desired effects
 Identify risks and assumptions that could disrupt a project
KEY TERMS
Here are a few important words that you will use this week.
 Logframe (Logical Framework)
A tool for project design. A logframe describes:
1. The project’s activities
2. The project’s short-term and long-term goals
3. How progress towards goals will be measured
4. Risks that might prevent you from reaching your goals
2. Inputs
These are the resources that go into your project. Examples include:
1. money
2. activity space
3. an expert’s time
3. Outputs
These are the products or services that your project makes. Examples include:
1. homes built
2. loans given
3. workshops held
4. Outcomes
These are the positive effects of your project. Examples include:
1. participants learning new skills
2. the rate of an illness going down
5. Impact
This is the large positive change that you hope your project will create for the
world. Examples include:
1. improving the health of a target population
2. saving a species from extinction
6. Risks
Factors outside of your control that could cause your project to go poorly.
Examples include:
1. participants may not be able to get to the workshop
2. funds intended for the project may be taken by government officials
7. Assumptions
Things that you believe but that are not supported by evidence. Examples
include:
1. participants will be allowed to join this activity
2. participants who have learned financial skills will want to save money
How is Project Design Related to M&E?

Imagine a bus driver traveling around a city. On the dashboard of the bus, he has all kinds
of instruments. He has a speedometer that measures the bus’ speed. He has a kilometer
counter that measures how far the bus has traveled. He has a clock that measures what
time it is.
There is only one problem. He has no idea where he is supposed to go! Even though he
has all of these great instruments on his dashboard, he is completely lost.
Your M&E plan is a lot like the speedometer, kilometer counter, and clock on that bus.
Hopefully, your M&E plan will gather important information that will help you get where you
want to go on time. But, if you do not know where you are going, your M&E plan will be
totally useless.
That is why it is so important to deeply understand your project before you build your M&E
plan. In this module you will review the work that the bus driver should have done first: you
will decide exactly where you want your project to go, and describe how you expect to get
there.
Three Questions
Three Questions to Answer

To design a project, you need to answer at least three questions:
 What are your project's goals?
 What are your project's activities?
 What are some potential problems that you should avoid?
You need to answer these questions before you can create an M&E plan. Hopefully, you
have already started to think about these questions. If you have created a project proposal
you will be very familiar with the process of project design, but a review of best practices
can still be very helpful!
In this module, we will quickly go over the process of project design to make sure that you
are ready for M&E planning. We will be using a popular project design tool: the logical
framework, or logframe for short. A logframe brings together a bunch of information into
the same place:
 The project’s activities
 The project’s short-term and long-term goals
 How progress towards goals will be measured
 Risks that might prevent you from reaching your goals
If you have never designed a project before, be warned: project design is a complicated
process, and there is no way to learn it all in one module. This module will review the
project design process, but will not explain it in detail. If you would like a more detailed
guide to project design, you may find the University’s Essentials of Nonprofit Strategy
course useful. The Essentials of Nonprofit Strategy course explains how organizations
design activities strategically.
For those of you who have already completed the Essentials of Nonprofit Strategy course,
this module will feel familiar to you. That is because “logframes”, “theories of change ” and
“implementation plans” are similar tools.
FEEDBACK
In the next section of this module, we will review how to create and use a logframe. If you have already
completed a logframe, take it out and get ready to review it. If you have never created a logframe
before, this will be your opportunity to learn the basics of the process.
Logframes
Introducing the Logframe

In this module, you will be using a logframe to design your project. If you have already
created a logframe for your project, take it out! You can use the information in this module
to check that your logframe is ready to use. If you have not made one yet, we will show
you how to do it.
We will explore each of the sections of the logframe in the next section. Let’s get started
by exploring the first column of the logframe: Project Summary.
Logical Flow
The Project Summary: A Logical Flow
The project summary describes the activities that your project will do and the effects that
you hope those activities will have.
A good way to read a project summary is to start at the bottom and to read up. At the
bottom, you see the inputs: the things that go into a project, like money or teaching. This
part is also often labeled “activities.” As you go up the logframe, you see the effects that
those inputs will have. The effects get bigger as you go up the project summary. At the
very top, you see the impact: the main, long-term effect that the project is intended to
have. This is called the impact. Some people also call this the goal or result.
You can compare inputs to a pebble dropped in a pond. The outputs, outcomes, and
impact of the project are the ripples in the water that the pebble creates. As you travel
further away from the pebble, the ripples get wider and wider. In the same way, as you
travel further up a project summary, the effects get larger and larger.
A well-written project summary has a logical flow. Each level of a logframe causes the
level above it. In other words, IF the level below happens, THEN the level above will
happen as well. Let’s take a look at a simple example to see how this works.
For this example, let’s pretend that, instead of solving world hunger, or helping the
environment, you are designing a project to get a new job. “Getting a job” is your big, long-
term goal: the impact of your project.
So, you think of an activity that might lead to getting a new job: taking a course at your
local university. "Taking a course" is your input. You also think about the steps that will
lead from your input to your impact: the outputs and outcomes. The output of your course
is that you will have new knowledge. The outcome of your course is that you will perform
better during job applications.
Take a moment to consider the steps of your project on the left. Does your project have a
logical flow? Well, let’s consider how each level leads to the one above it. We can do this
by putting pieces of our project summary together into if/then statements like these:
IF you take a course, THEN you will have new knowledge.

IF you have new knowledge, THEN you will perform better in job applications.
IF you perform better in job applications, THEN you will get a new job.
Notice how each if/then statement combines two levels of the logframe. It first states the
lower level, then states the level above.
These sentences make sense, so you are off to a good start. Your project summary has a
logical flow. Creating if/then statements is a great way to check a project summary for
logical flow. You will practice this technique later on in this lesson.
Now that you understand how the pieces of your project summary fit together, you can start
filling in a logframe!
Remember MEH, one of the teams that you met in the last module? MEH does not have a
logframe for their project. In the next part of this module you will help them get started on their
logframe.
Project Summary
Step 1
Step 1: Define the Impact

Many project designers make the mistake of choosing their inputs and outputs first before
deciding on outcomes and impact. This is a bad idea.
The impact is the most important part of our project. It is the point of your project! That is
why you should start by picking your impact, then work backward to choose your activities.
If you choose your inputs and outputs before you choose your impact, you might
accidentally create activities that do not lead to the desired impact.
So, we are going to start by defining MEH’s impact.
The impact of a project is the main, long-term effect that the project will have. It is
sometimes also called the result or the goal. Examples of impact include:
 An animal is saved from extinction

 A group of people lives healthier lives
Your impact should be ambitious, and it might be larger than your single project. Often
entire organizations will choose a single impact for all of their projects to focus on. This
impact is typically tied to the organization’s mission.
MEH’s organization already has an impact that they would like their projects to work
towards: they want to increase the financial prosperity of girls in their province. In other
words, they want girls in their province to have enough money.
Project Summary
Step 2
Step 2: Define Activities

Now that we know MEH’s impact, we are ready to design their project activities. This part
of the logframe - the inputs and outputs - describes what their project will actually do.
Inputs are the things that are put into a project: money, space, or an expert’s time. Please
note that some versions of the logframe call this section activities. We will use the word
activities to refer to both inputs and outputs.
Outputs are the things that you know your project will make: educational workshops,
loans or houses.
Activities have both inputs and outputs. For example, you need inputs of money, workshop
space and teachers to produce the output of an educational workshop.
It is important to note that there are some things that you hope your project will do, but that
are not totally under your control. These are not outputs. We call these outcomes.
For example, you may hope that participants who attend your workshop will learn new
skills. But there are lots of reasons, many out of your control, that participants might not
learn new skills. Maybe they are not paying attention, for example! That is why “learning
new skills” is an outcome, not an output. We will explain outcomes in the next section.
Outputs, on the other hand, are under our control. In this example, an output would be
"workshops are held."
Let’s return to MEH. They decided that they want to increase the financial prosperity of
girls in their province. Let’s help them identify some inputs and outputs that will help them
make this impact!
Multiple Choice
0.0/10.0 points (graded)
Which of these choices is an input that will help MEH increase the financial prosperity of girls in their
province?
Girls are able to buy household goods
Vitamin supplements
Girls become financially independent
Money for small loans
unanswered
Which of these choices is an output that will help MEH increase the financial prosperity of girls in
their province?
Girls receive small loans
Girls spend their money wisely
Microfinance experts give advice
Girls learn financial skills
unanswered
Submit
Some problems have options such as save, reset, hints, or show answer. These options follow the Submit
button.
Great work! We have completed Step 2: Define activities. Now we are ready to fill in the
final part of MEH’s project summary: outcomes.
Project Summary
Step 3
Step 3: Define Outcomes

So far, we have helped MEH define their impact - they are trying to improve the financial
prosperity of girls in their province - and we have chosen an activity for them to do - they
are going to give microloans to local girls. You might notice that there is a bit of a logical
gap here! How exactly are microloans going to lead to improved financial prosperity?
There are some steps missing.
These missing steps are called outcomes, sometimes called intermediate outcomes. Think
of outcomes like a bridge between activities and impact. Your activities should lead to
outcomes. These outcomes will lead to your impact.
So let’s help MEH think of some outcomes. Well, if MEH gives girls microloans, they might
start new businesses. Their new businesses could lead to improved financial prosperity.
This is an example of an outcome. It connects the activity to the impact.
Notice that the outcome is not guaranteed! Even if MEH does a great job providing
microloans, they cannot be certain that girls will use the money to start a business. That is
what separates an outcome from an output. We will explore these kinds of risks more
thoroughly in the next section.
Project Summary
Review
Reviewing MEH’s Project Summary

Great work! We have helped MEH complete their project summary.
Before we move onto the next section - risks and assumptions - let’s review MEH’s project
summary and make sure it has a logical flow.
Remember, if we did a good job each level of the project summary should lead to the level
above it. Let’s test it out with some “if-then statements”:
IF MEH provides money for microloans THEN girls will receive microloans.
IF girls receive microloans THEN girls will start new businesses or upgrade equipment in
their existing businesses.
IF girls start new businesses or upgrade equipment in their existing businesses THEN
they will have increased financial prosperity.
These statements make sense! Remember, however, that we could make MEH’s
logframe even stronger by finding evidence to support these statements. For example, we
might look at similar projects to see whether providing microloans really does lead to
participants starting new businesses. As it is, we made decisions without any data. And,
because we made decisions without looking at any data, we might not have avoided our
biases.
Project Summary
Project Design and M&E
Case Study: Project Design

In this text NOPE introduces the logframe that they developed for their project Wazesha
Jamii.
Why is it important to do monitoring and evaluation during the design phase?
It is important to us because we can set targets easily, we can measure whether
those targets are efficiently achieved and we can also repeat actions
in case of success and lastly we can document that evidence.
A project logframe
is a snapshot of the project implementation.
We use our logframe to
test our theory of change.
We use a scenario of "If and Then."
What we have promised:
if we put this input
does it give this result?
Risks and Assumptions

What are Risks and Assumptions?
What are Risks and Assumptions?

Imagine that you are planning a birthday party for your mom. You come up with a great
idea: you are going to invite all of your mom’s childhood friends and surprise your mom
with a big party. You are sure that this will delight your mom.
You tell your brother your plan. Right away he starts pointing out some problems.
 What if mom’s childhood friends cannot travel to town?
 What if mom does not want to see her childhood friends?
 What if mom hates surprises?
 What if mom would prefer a small party?
Perhaps you can think of a few more reasons why this plan might not work. While it can be
annoying to hear these criticisms, your brother has done you a big favor: he has pointed
out the risks and assumptions in your plan. Risks are the things outside of your control that
might disrupt your plan. Assumptions are your biases: the things that you believe without
much evidence.
Now that your brother has identified some risks and assumptions, you can take steps to
avoid these problems: you can ask your mom how she feels about her childhood friends or
set up travel arrangements for her friends in advance. During the party, you can monitor
the situation to see how your mom is feeling. And if things do not go well, at least you will
have a good idea about WHY they did not go well.
When you design a project, it is important to find the risks and assumptions before the
project starts. In this section, we will explain how to do that.
Identifying Risks and Assumptions

The risks and assumptions column of a logframe lists all the things that might disrupt your
plan. For each level of your logframe - inputs, outputs, outcomes, and impact - you ask:
what could go wrong? Is there anything that might prevent you from providing the inputs?
And, if you provide the inputs, are you sure that this will lead to the outputs?
Remember the if/then statements that we made at the beginning of this module? Here is
an example to remind you:
IF you have new knowledge, THEN you will perform better on job applications.
Writing your project summary as series of if/then statements will help you spot risks and
assumptions. For example, after we read this if/then statement we can ask:
 What type of knowledge will help you perform better on job applications?
 Is knowledge enough to help you perform better on job applications?
Let’s identify risks and assumptions for MEH’s outcomes, by combining the outcomes with
the outputs in an if/then statement:
IF girls receive microloans, THEN girls will start new businesses or upgrade equipment in
their existing businesses.
We have combined the outcomes with the level below: the outputs. Now we can ask: are
we completely sure that this is true? Are there any things outside of MEH’s control that
might keep girls from starting or upgrading businesses?
Here are a few risks and assumptions that might keep girls from starting or upgrading
businesses, even if they get microloans:
 Girls might not want to start or upgrade businesses

 Girls might be discouraged from starting or upgrading businesses by their family
or culture
 Girls might not know how to start or upgrade businesses
So, these three risks and assumptions will go into MEH’s logframe, right alongside their
outcomes.
Why it is important to plan for risks and assumptions ahead of time is so that you can understand
events and conditions that are unforeseeable that might affect your implementation, therefore giving
you enough time to make decisions at the right time.
We tested for our assumptions and risks within our logframe by looking at our past events and
seeing out of those activities we had implemented some of the common assumptions and risks.
Then we go through our beneficiaries and ask them what would be some of the assumptions
that we had put along whether they fitted and finally we looked at the list of activities that we did and
listed some of our assumptions.
A common assumption that we had is that Kenya will have a new government by the end of
August of this year. Unfortunately this didn't go on because there was prolonged electioneering
process and brought a repeat of elections.
Out of this it meant that we could not implement our project. We created a subgroup that included
our beneficiaries and they could inform us about the risks that are on the ground and we could plan
appropriately.
We also adjusted our work plan and our targets.
Completing a Logframe
Indicators and Means of Verification
Indicators and Means of Verification

MEH’s logframe is looking pretty great so far! So far we have thought about the activities
that MEH will do and the effects of those activities. We have also found a few places
where things could go wrong.
Notice that we’re not totally done yet. There are two columns that are still empty: Indicators
and Means of Verification.
Indicators are what you will measure. So, to measure MEH’s outputs, they might record
the number of microloans that were given out. The number of microloans that were given
out is an indicator. We will discuss indicators in depth in the next module.
Means of Verification are the tools that decide how you will measure progress. These tools
could be surveys that participants fill out or record sheets that volunteers fill out. We will
discuss means of verification in Module 4.
Connecting Logframes to M&E

Well done! You have completed a really important part of the project cycle: project design.
The thinking that you did in this module and the logframe that you are producing will help
you plan your M&E activities.
In this module, you started thinking like an M&E expert when you identified risks and
assumptions in your logframe. Looking for risks and assumptions is a powerful way to
escape your biases. For a really complete M&E plan, you would spend some time trying to
respond to risks and assumptions before and during the project design phase. This type of
research is called formative research, and, unfortunately, we will not have the time in this
course to learn how to do this kind of research.
However, during the project, you will have plenty of time to examine your risks and
assumptions. You will also have plenty of time to test the strength of your logical flow. To
do this, we will need to start collecting data.
Some monitoring questions that you are now prepared to ask include:
 Are enough inputs being provided?
 How well do your inputs lead to your outputs?
 How well do your outputs lead to outcomes?
 Are any of the risks or assumptions that you identified hurting your project?
Some evaluation questions that you are now prepared to ask include:
 Do your inputs produce enough outputs and outcomes?
 How well did your project create impact?
 Did any risks or assumptions hurt this project?
 Were there any unexpected risks or assumptions?
In the next few modules, you will figure out how to collect the data that will answer these
questions.
Assignment: Logframe
For this module, your assignment is to submit a logframe for your project. If you already
have a logframe for your project, you may copy it into the template provided.
Your logframe should have the project summary and risks & assumptions columns
completed. You do NOT have to fill in the Indicators and Means of Verification columns.
Conclusion
Congratulations!
Congratulations on completing Module 2! Here are a few important things that you learned
in this module:
 M&E starts with good project design. Before you can make an M&E plan, you
need to really understand your project’s activities and intended effects.
 A logframe is a project design tool. It brings together lots of important
information into one place. Completing a logframe is one of the first steps in the
project cycle.
 The project summary should have a logical flow. Each level should logically
lead to the level above it. Whenever possible, you should find evidence to
support your logical flow.
 It is very important to identify risks and assumptions before a project
starts. If you know how a project might go wrong, you can start preparing. You
will also know what problems to look for when you start monitoring.
If you would like to use the logframe template that you completed in your assignment for your own
M&E plan, click the links below to download your own copy.
 Logframe template (pdf)
 Logframe template (doc)
ADDITIONAL RESOURCE
 How to write a logframe: A beginner’s guide

This article, from the Guardian, explains how to use a logframe.
Module 3: Identifying Indicators and Targets
Welcome to Module 3! You have made it about halfway through this course. Let’s stop and
look at where we are:
In the last module, you got to know your project really well. You used the logframe tool to
identify the inputs, outputs, outcomes, impact, and assumptions that comprise your project
design.
In this module you will be working on Step 2: Choose Your Indicators. This work will help
you measure your inputs, outputs, outcomes, impact, and assumptions.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 Describe what performance indicators are and give examples of how they
contribute to an M&E plan
 Evaluate the characteristics of performance indicators
 Identify indicators for your own project
 Apply appropriate methods for setting accurate targets for your own project
 Develop an Indicators Document for your M&E plan
KEY TERMS
Here are a few important words that you will use this week.
 Indicators
These are the things that you will measure. Indicators show how successful your
project is. Indicators DO NOT include the specific numbers or percentages that
you would like to reach. Examples of indicators include:
o The number of children who receive vaccines
o The percentage of donated funds that reach families
 Targets
These are the numbers or percentages that you would like to reach and the
dates on which you would like to reach them. For every indicator, you will have
at least one target. Examples of targets include:
o 900 children will receive vaccines by February
o 85% of funds donated will reach families in 2019
 Results
These are the numbers or percentages that you have already achieved. Once
your project is over, you will probably share results with funders or partners.
Examples of results include:
o 987 children received vaccines in 2017
o 82% of all funds donated this year reached families
 Quantitative Indicators
An indicator is quantitative if it measures a number, percentage or ratio.
Quantitative indicators answer questions about “how much” or “how many.”
 Qualitative Indicators
An indicator is qualitative if it measures what people think, believe or feel.
Why Choose Indicators?

Let’s imagine that you are taking a course, much like this one. On the first day of the
course your teacher tells you:
“You will be graded on whether or not you do a good job.”
That is pretty vague, isn’t it? What does the teacher mean by “good job?” And how will you
know if you are doing a good job? It is going to be pretty tough to please this teacher!
Now let’s imagine that, instead of asking you to do a good job, the teacher says: “You will
be graded on how many assignments you complete and your score on the final test.”
This time the teacher has told you what she will measure to determine success. In fact,
she has chosen two things to measure:
 How many assignments you complete
 Your score on the final test
These two measurements are her indicators. Indicators are the things that you measure to
determine success.
Notice how much simpler it is to do a good job when the teacher tells you what the
indicators are. Instead of trying to guess what she wants, you are able to focus on doing
the things that matter. Not only that, but the teacher now has an easier job. Instead of
thinking about each student and deciding whether they did a good job, she can just look at
the numbers. It is much easier to for her to be fair.
In the same way, your project team will have a much easier job achieving success if they
know how their success will be measured. And you will have a much easier job
determining success if you have chosen indicators to measure.
In this module, you will learn all about indicators. By the end of this module, you will be
ready to select strong indicators for your own project.
Indicators, Targets, and Results

Before we choose indicators, let’s review a few key terms:
Indicators
These are the things that you will measure. Indicators show how successful your project
is. Indicators DO NOT include the specific numbers or percentages that you would like to
reach. Examples of indicators include:
 The number of children who receive vaccines
 The percentage of donated funds that reach families
Targets
These are the numbers or percentages that you would like to reach and the dates by
which you would like to reach them. For every indicator, you will have at least one target.
Examples of targets include:
 900 children will receive vaccines by February
 85% of funds donated will reach families in 2019
Results
These are the numbers or percentages that you have already achieved. Once your project
is over, you will probably share results with funders, beneficiaries or partners. Examples of
results include:
 987 children received vaccines in 2017
 82% of all funds donated this year reached families
In this module, we will help you choose appropriate indicators and targets. Whether or not
you get good results is up to you!
The list below contains several indicators, targets and results. Select only the indicators.
$100,000 in loans given
Provide vaccinations to 1,200 children
Number of new wells created
122 educational workshops were provided
Percentage of children who go to kindergarten
85% of the money will go to school supplies
unanswered
Types of Indicators
Linking Indicators to Logframes
In the last module, you chose your project’s activities and goals. In your logframe, you
defined project inputs, outputs, outcomes, and impact.
For each of these logframe levels, you will choose at least one indicator. The indicators will
help you measure how well you are providing inputs and creating outputs, outcomes, and
impact.
Let’s take a look at MEH’s logframe, which we designed in the last module.
MEH has chosen an ambitious impact: improving the financial prosperity of girls in their
province. In other words, they want to ensure that the girls in their province have enough
money. How will they know if they have successfully created this impact? They will need to
define some impact indicators.
“Financial prosperity” can mean a lot of things. MEH’s indicators will need to specify
exactly what they mean. Here are a few possible indicators:
 The total value of the girls’ belongings and money
 The amount of money each girl makes each year
 The percentage of girls above the poverty line
Each of these indicators might help MEH understand how financially prosperous these
girls are. If they collect data on these indicators, they will be able to say whether the
project has had an impact.
Indicators can also help you track the risks and assumptions that you have identified. In
the last module, we identified one outcome risk for MEH:
Girls might be discouraged from starting or upgrading businesses by their family or culture
MEH can track this risk by measuring indicators, such as:
Percentage of girls who start businesses
Percentage of girls who upgrade businesses

Barriers to starting or upgrading businesses, as reported by participants
If very few girls start or upgrade businesses and many participants report familial or
cultural barriers, then MEH may need to adjust their project plans.
Tips for Choosing Indicators

Your donors may have specific indicators that they would like you to measure. Often,
however, it will be up to you to choose indicators for your project. In this module, you will
look at your logframe and choose indicators. For each level of your logframe – inputs,
outputs, outcomes, and impact - you should choose at least one indicator to measure.
It is important to note, however, that every indicator you select will require time and money
to measure. So, choose your indicators wisely, and select no more than 8-10 indicators for
a single project.
Here are a few tips that will help you choose your indicators:
 Tip 1: Each indicator should measure only one thing
 Tip 2: Mix monitoring and evaluation indicators
 Tip 3: Mix quantitative and qualitative indicators
 Tip 4: Research the indicators that other projects use
Let’s explore each of these tips.

TIP 1: EACH INDICATOR SHOULD MEASURE ONLY ONE
THING
Each indicator can only measure one thing. If you want to measure more than one thing,
you need to include more than one indicator.
Incorrect:
 Number of teachers trained and career guidance resources distributed
Correct:
 Number of teachers trained
 Number of career guidance resources distributed
TIP 2: MIX MONITORING AND EVALUATION INDICATORS
Some of your indicators will be more helpful for monitoring, while others will be more
helpful for evaluation. It is important to choose a mix of indicators that will be useful for
both monitoring and evaluation.
In general, indicators that measure inputs and outputs will help you with monitoring. We
often call these kinds of indicators process indicators. Process indicators tell you
whether services are being delivered, whether participants are showing up, and whether
staff are doing good work. Monitoring this kind of information is really important for
decision making.
Indicators that measure outcomes and impact are generally more helpful for evaluation.
Outcome and impact indicators will tell you whether your project made a difference.
Of course, this distinction is not perfect. Process indicators are often used to answer
evaluation questions, and outcome and impact indicators can help with monitoring.
However, before you select an indicator, it is always a good idea to ask: what will this
indicator be used for?
TIP 3: INCLUDE A MIX OF QUANTITATIVE AND
QUALITATIVE INDICATORS
Indicators can be divided into two types: quantitative and qualitative. Your M&E plan
should include a mix of both.
Quantitative indicators measure numbers. Let’s say that your team would like to
provide a safe, positive space for youth to gather. An example of a quantitative indicator
would be the number of youth who show up to your space every week.
Qualitative indicators measure what people think, feel or believe. Let’s take the same
example of an organization that would like to provide safe, positive spaces for youth to
gather. A qualitative indicator would be how participants respond when they are asked:
“what words best describe how you feel about this space?”
Qualitative indicators sometimes get the reputation of being less valuable or accurate than
quantitative indicators. This is incorrect. True, quantitative indicators have some
advantages: for example, they are often easier to collect and interpret. However,
qualitative indicators tell you different kinds of information. You will never find out whether
your space really feels safe and positive, for example, by just recording how many people
show up! A complete M&E plan will collect both types of information: quantitative AND
qualitative.
Checkboxes
Select only the quantitative indicators from the list below.
How people feel about the program
How many backpacks were distributed
How many people participated
What additional services people would like to see
unanswered
Submit
button.
TIP 4: RESEARCH THE INDICATORS THAT OTHER

PROJECTS USE
Different organizations will often measure the same things. It might make sense to choose
an indicator that has already been used in a similar situation. Not only will this approach
save you time, but it will also ensure that the indicator you have chosen has been tested.
MEH does not have to invent their own financial prosperity indicators. Many other
organizations measure financial prosperity. For example, the organization Demographic
and Health Surveys, which operates in many countries around the world, has already
created a sophisticated indicator for measuring wealth called the Wealth Index. MEH may
choose to use this indicator.
TRY THIS
Do a quick Internet search of large organizations in your sector. What indicators do these
organizations use? Indicators are often listed in project or program reports.
Another great source for indicators is the website IndiKit. Indikit has created a list of
development and relief indicators that can be easily used.
Quiz: Choosing Indicators

Quiz: Choosing Indicators
Let’s help MEH choose a set of process indicators. Remember, MEH chose this input:
Money for microloans
And this output:
Girls receive microloans
20 minutes
Checkboxes (HF)
Read the list of indicators below. Choose all of the indicators that would help MEH measure their
inputs or outputs. Remember to choose a mix of quantitative and qualitative indicators.
The number of microloans given
The average size of microloans given
The number of girls who receive microloans
The percentage of the project budget spent on microloans
What girls say they intend to use their microloan for
The height of the girls
unanswered
Submit
button.
Try this:
Review the logframe that you completed in the last module. Spend 15 minutes choosing
indicators for your logframe. This will probably not be enough time to select all of the
indicators that you will measure. However, it should be enough time to choose at least one
indicator each for your inputs, outputs, outcomes and impact (at least 4 total).
If your team has already selected indicators, take this time to revisit them. Based on the
tips that you have been provided, do you need to revise your indicators?
Selecting Strong Indicators

Criteria for Strong Indicators
So far, you have had some practice choosing indicators for your project. But how do you
know whether the indicators that you have chosen are strong indicators? Well, the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) has come up with seven criteria for
judging indicators. You can use these criteria to decide if the indicators that you have
chosen are strong.
That is good news for our friends at MEH, because they have a disagreement. They would
like to measure this outcome:
Girls will start new businesses
However, they disagree about which indicator to use. One team member thinks that the
best way to measure this outcome would be to count the number of businesses that are
officially registered. The indicator that she suggests is:
The number of businesses that participants register with the local government
Another team member thinks that what they are really interested in measuring is how
many successful businesses are started. She suggests that a better indicator would be:
How successful each new business is
Which of these indicators is stronger? Well, the seven criteria above should help them
decide. On the next page, let’s take a closer look at each of these criteria, and help MEH
decide which indicator is stronger.
The Seven Criteria

Let's take a look at each of the seven criteria, and help MEH decide which of their
indicators is stronger.
1. OBJECTIVE
Objective indicators are absolutely clear about what is being measured and the data that
are being collected. There is no room for interpretation. An objective indicator will always
mean the same thing, regardless of who is using it.
One way to increase the objectivity of an indicator is to carefully define any words that
might be misinterpreted. For example, if your indicator is "girls will be healthy," you might
add a definition for the word healthy.
Healthy: participants have not been hospitalized in the past 12 months.
It is best practice to clearly define any words that might be confusing in your Indicators
Document. You will have a chance to do this in this module’s assignment.
Multiple Choice (HF)
Read MEH’s indicators below. Are they objective?
The number of businesses that participants register with the local government.
Objective
Not Objective
Maybe Objective
unanswered
How successful each new business is.
Objective
Not Objective
Maybe Objective
unanswered
Submit
button.
2. DIRECT
A direct indicator measures the input, output, outcome, impact or risk itself. An indirect
indicator will measure something else.
Read MEH’s indicators below. Which indicator directly measures the outcome "Girls will start new
businesses"?
Direct
Not Direct
Maybe Direct
unanswered
Direct
Not Direct
Maybe Direct
unanswered
3. PRACTICAL
In a perfect world, you would be able to get all the data that you want. Realistically,
however, there is some information that will be too difficult or expensive to get. That is why
it is important to think about our third criteria: practicality. Before you choose an indicator,
ask yourself: Will this be too expensive to measure? Will it require too much work for my
team or for my beneficiaries?

Read MEH’s indicators below. Are they practical?
Practical
Not Practical
Maybe Practical
unanswered
Practical
Not Practical
Maybe Practical
unanswered
Submit
button.
4. ADEQUATE
A group of indicators is adequate if, all together, they give you enough information to
measure success. If you’re interested in measuring something very accurately, it is a good
idea to define 2-3 indicators that will help you measure it. For example, to measure their
output (girls will receive microloans), MEH would probably want to measure both the
number of microloans and the size of each microloan.
Keep in mind, however, that 2-3 indicators are ideal – in reality, it might be too expensive
or time-consuming to collect that much data! Your goal is to balance adequate
measurements with practical considerations.
Neither of MEH’s two indicators is adequate on their own. In fact, it might be a good idea
to use both.
5. USEFUL FOR MANAGEMENT
Remember, one of the goals of M&E is to be able to adjust your plan and make good
decisions based on the information that you receive. If the indicator that you chose is not
going to help you make good decisions, it is probably not a strong indicator.

Read MEH’s indicators below. Are they useful for management?
Useful
Not Useful
Maybe Useful
unanswered
Useful
Not Useful
Maybe Useful
unanswered
Submit
button.
6. ATTRIBUTABLE
Would the change that this indicator measures have happened without the project? Strong
indicators are attributable to the project activities. This means that they measure changes
that the project caused. One note of caution: it can be very difficult to reliably measure
attribution without a thorough evaluation!
Both of MEH’s potential indicators (the number of businesses that participants register
with the local government and how successful each new business is) might be attributable
to microloans. However, there are lots of other factors that could lead to new businesses
or successful businesses.
7. DISAGGREGATED
Finally, most strong indicators are disaggregated. This means that the data is separated
into categories. For example, you might disaggregate this indicator:
Number of participants receiving HIV treatment
into these categories:
Gender: Male/Female
Age: 0-5, 5-15, 15-25, 25-35, 35+
It is important to disaggregate your indicators because activities will affect different types of
people in different ways. Note, however, that not every indicator needs to be
disaggregated. If it is not helpful to break an indicator into different categories, then don’t
do it.
Let's take a look at MEH's indicators:
The number of businesses that participants register with the local government
How successful each new business is
Neither of these indicators has been disaggregated yet. However, we could easily
disaggregate them both. Here are a few categories that would work well for either
indicator:
 type of business
 location
 age of business owner
Perhaps you can think of a few more categories that it would be helpful to disaggregate
these indicators into!
Which Indicator is Stronger?
So, which is the stronger indicator? Let’s review.
The number of new businesses registered with the local government satisfies many more
criteria than successfulness of businesses. Clearly, the indicator number of new
businesses registered with the local government is the stronger indicator.
TEXT: Selecting Indicators

In this text, Peter explains how they chose indicators for their project.
Some of the indicators we have chosen for the Wezesha Jamii project is the
increase in profitability by the women the proportion of women earning a
minimum wage the percentage of women who

can claim their rights. How these
indicators contribute to our logframe is that they contribute to our ultimate
result which is to increase the livelihoods of women and promote their
collective voice. One of the difficulties of choosing indicators is the language
that we use. You could use a language that is ambiguous. For example in our
case for Wezesha Jamii project you could say
number of people who are accessing their
right it is yes a good indicator but it is difficult to understand. A good
indicator would be number of domestic workers who are able to claim their
rights and it would be better to use
number of women domestic workers who were
able to claim their rights. The other challenge we have with selecting
indicators is the disaggregation - the breaking down of each indicator to units
that are easy to report on. For example, if you had an indicator that just
generally captured the number of women who have been able to increase their
minimum wage that is just a general one. A specific way is to use number of women
domestic workers were able to claim these rights and in the disaggregation -
in breaking down - used by gender, by age, by occupation.
Try This: Logframe Update

Review the logframe that you submitted in the last module. Do your indicators meet the
seven criteria we just covered? If not, revise your indicators. The seven criteria are:
 Objective
 Direct
 Adequate
 Useful for Management
 Attributable
 Practical
 Disaggregated
Targets
Introduction to Targets
Now that you have selected your indicators, you are ready to think about targets.
Remember, a target states the level that your project will meet by a certain date. Targets
are a commitment to reach certain results. Setting targets can be a powerful exercise. It
motivates your team to achieve success, and it also ensures that everyone - team
members, beneficiaries, partners, and donors - understands what is going to be
accomplished.
Your targets should look almost identical to your indicators. However, they will specify the
level that you plan on reaching, and the date that you plan on reaching it.
For example, let’s take MEH’s output indicator and turn it into a target:
Number of loans given out >>>
400 loans will be given out by December 2019
Before you start setting your own targets, here are a few important things to know about
targets.
1. TARGETS CAN EXPRESS QUANTITY, QUALITY OR

EFFICIENCY
Quantity counts the number of something. Example: 1,000 children will receive health
care.
Quality measures how good a product or experience is. Example: 90% of participants will
rank their experience as "satisfactory" or better.
Efficiency measures how well resources like time or money are spent. Example: 80% of
project funding will be spent purchasing school supplies.
2. SET YOUR FINAL TARGETS FIRST
Final targets - the targets that you plan on reaching by the end of the project - are usually
the most important targets. That is why it is usually a good idea to set final targets first.
Then, you can begin planning all the smaller targets that you will hit along the way to your
final target.
3. TARGETS CAN SOMETIMES BE ADJUSTED
You make a commitment to reaching your targets, so it is always a good idea to keep your
original targets if possible. In some cases, however, it may be acceptable to adjust your
target. Some of these situations include:
 If funding changes
 If your scope of work changes
 If there is a major change in your target audience
You will want to discuss any changes to your targets very carefully with your donors, team,
and beneficiaries.
4. TARGETS SHOULD BE AMBITIOUS BUT REALISTIC
It is important to set ambitious targets because it will motivate your team to reach high
levels of success. Additionally, targets tell your donor how much work you are planning on
doing. If you set your targets too low, your donors may be reluctant to give you the money
you need.
However, targets should also be realistic. When you set a target, you are committing your
team to reaching that target. If you miss a target because you were unrealistic, everyone
involved will end up disappointed: yourself, your team, and your donors.
Setting ambitious yet realistic targets is a tricky task. We will explore how to do this in the
next part of this lesson.
Setting Targets
Setting targets can be tricky. If we are feeling optimistic, we may set targets too high.
Likewise, if we are feeling pessimistic, we may set our targets too low. To set targets like
an M&E expert, we will need to use data, not feelings, to set targets. This will ensure that
we are not letting our biases or assumptions influence our decisions.
BASELINES
The baseline is the level that your indicator is at before the project starts. For example,
let’s say that your project is distributing Vitamin A supplements to children. The indicator
you have decided to measure is:
Percentage of children who receive Vitamin A supplements
Before you set your target, you find data from the World Health Organization that states
that 20% of the children in your area already receive Vitamin A supplements. 20% is your
baseline. You will set your target higher than 20%.
There are three ways to set a baseline:

 By finding an existing, reliable data source: A previous project or
government agency may provide this data.
 By collecting data: If no data source exists, you may have to collect it yourself.
 By starting at zero: If your project is providing a new type of service, your
baseline may be zero.
HISTORICAL TRENDS
It is important to know not only the baseline level of your indicators but also if the indicator
has been changing in recent years.
For example, let’s say that your project is trying to increase school enrollment. You learn
that 2 years ago, school enrollment was 55%. 1 year ago, school enrollment was 60%.
Now, school enrollment is 65%.
You can use this pattern - the historical trend - to predict what will happen in the future. If
the historical trend continues, in one more year school enrollment will be 70%.
So, if you set a target of increasing school enrollment to 70% in the next year, you might
just be helping along a change that would have happened whether or not your project was
implemented. 70% would not be an ambitious target.
OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION
When you are setting targets, you may also want to consider these sources of information:
 Expert opinion: Interviewing people who are experts in the topic and the local
context can be helpful for setting targets.
 Research findings or previous projects: What targets were others able to hit?
 Stakeholder expectations: In some cases, your donors or beneficiaries will tell
you the targets that they would like you to reach.
 Project Budget: Your budget will determine what you are able to do. For
example, you might want to distribute 80,000 mosquito nets, but only have the
funds to purchase 40,000.
You may not have access to all of these types of information when you set your targets.
However, it is always a good idea to get as much information as you possibly can before
you set your targets.
TEXT: Setting Targets

In this text, Peter describes how NOPE sets ambitious yet realistic targets.
To make our targets ambitious yet realistic we looked at our previous
implementation and what we've been able to achieve and set new targets. Again we
looked at the kind of resources that we have available for us. Was it realizable
for us to realize new targets? Then, if so, we set new targets. We also picked two
scenarios where we asked ourselves: if all of the risks happened, what will be the
new target? If they didn't happen, what would be the new target? Then we
set the midline to be our new target. Lastly, we set our project to have
incentives for staff to realize these new targets. Does it mean that
when you set a target you can't go back and adjust your target? No. For our
case we had to go back and adjust our target because that was the most
realistic thing to do. For example, we said that we will begin our projects on
month two and it was almost impossible. We began a project at month seven so we
had to adjust our targets based that we started a bit late.
Module 4: Data Collection

Welcome to Module 4 of this course on planning for M&E! You have made it more than
halfway through the course.
Let’s review how far you have come:
 In Module 1, you learned about the basic concepts of M&E.

 In Module 2, you got to know your project really well by examining a logframe
tool.
 In Module 3, you selected indicators: the things that you would like to measure.
Now, you are ready to decide how you will measure your indicators. Remember the steps
to setting up an M&E plan?
In this module you will complete step 3 - decide how you will measure indicators - and step
4 - create tools.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
 Distinguish between different data collection methods and select the most
appropriate use for each
 Understand best practices for creating clear tools and instructions to collect data
on project indicators
 Select appropriate data collection methods for your indicators
 Design a data collection form and instructions for your own indicators
KEY TERMS
Here are a few important words that you will use this week
 Data Collection Method
A process or technique for collecting data.
 Data Collection Tool
Forms, documents or guides that help individuals or organizations collect data.
Each data collection method will use a different set of data collection tools.
 Participant Tracking Form
A commonly used type of data collection tool. Participant Tracking Forms record
information about participants who receive services.
 Metadata
Information about how and when your data was collected. Common forms of
metadata include:
o Who collected the data
o When the data was collected
o Where the data was collected
o The name and version of the tool used
Data Collection Methods

Imagine that you own a restaurant. You have created a new dish, and you would like to
know whether people like it. So, you decide to measure the indicator “the percentage of
visitors who enjoyed eating my new dish.” How would you collect this information?
Well, you would have lots of options. You could send a survey to a group of your
customers, asking them “did you enjoy eating the new dish?” You could gather a few
customers together in a small group and ask them to have a conversation about the new
dish. You could interview a few customers and gather in-depth details about their reaction
to the new dish.
These are each different data collection methods. A data collection method is a process or
technique for collecting data. There are many, many data collection methods. Each
method has its own advantages and disadvantages. Some methods require a lot of
technical expertise to use well, while others are simple enough to be used by a trained
volunteer. Some are time-consuming and expensive, while others are quick and cheap.
Some methods are great for collecting quantitative data, while others collect lots of
qualitative data.
In this section of the module, you will explore some of the most commonly used data
collection methods and choose a few methods that will work well for your project.
A Few Data Collection Methods

There are many methods that organizations use to collect data. The table below lists a few
data collection methods that are commonly used for M&E. Note that each of these
methods may have many variations and that this is not a complete list of all possible
methods.
Read through the table below. As you read, ask: would you use any of these methods to
measure your indicators?

The sentences below each describe one data collection method. Select the data collection method that
matches the definition.
A discussion with a small group of individuals, led by a trained moderator.
Laboratory Measurement
Focus group
Document review
Survey
unanswered
A volunteer visits a project site and records what she sees or hears using a data collection form.
Laboratory measurement
Interview
Observation
Community workshop/meeting
unanswered
Selecting a Data Collection Method

As we have seen, there are many ways to collect data. For each of your indicators, you
need to choose an appropriate data collection method. So, how do you decide which
methods to use? Well, there are a few questions to consider when you are choosing a
data collection method:
 What?
 Who?
 How often?
 By whom?
 Can we do it?
WHAT?
What kind of data will you need to collect to measure your indicator? Detailed qualitative
data will be collected very differently than quantitative data. For example, surveys,
laboratory measurements, and document reviews work well for collecting large amounts of
quantitative data, while interviews and focus groups are often the best choices for
collecting detailed qualitative data.
It is also worth considering whether the data you are collecting is personal or sensitive. A
group setting, such as a focus group, might be too public if you are interested in collecting
personally sensitive information.
WHO?
Who are the people who can provide the data for your indicator? To accurately measure
your indicator, do you need to collect data from a large group of people spread across lots
of different locations? Or, can you collect enough data by reaching a few key people?
What is the best method for reaching these people? Will they be able to fill out complex,
written tools? Or would they prefer in-person conversation?
Additionally, consider the amount of work that you are asking your participants to do. For
example, would it be reasonable to ask your participants to spend two hours in an
interview?
HOW OFTEN?
How often do you need to collect these data? Some methods, such as very large surveys,
require a lot of time to do well. These methods might be worth using once a year, or only
when reports are about to be written. Other methods, such as observations, are
inexpensive and quick to deploy. These can be used daily or weekly.
A simple rule is that the lower an indicator is on your logframe, the more often it should be
measured. Output indicators should be measured often: daily or weekly, for example.
Outcome indicators do not need to be measured as often. These might be measured
quarterly or annually. In fact, since outcomes often take a long time to appear, it might be
necessary to measure your outcomes several months or years after the activities are over.
Note that this is general guidance, not a rule that will apply to all situations.
Additionally, when you are deciding how often to collect data for an indicator, you will want
to consider the schedule of your team as well as other events like school schedules,
agricultural seasons and holidays.
BY WHOM?
Who will be collecting the data? Do you have access to skilled observers, interviewers or
moderators? What is the educational level of those who will be collecting the data? Do
they speak the same languages as the people that they will be communicating with, or will
you need to translate tools and guides into different languages? Do they understand how
to use any required technology?
Additionally, who will analyze the data? Some data collection methods like surveys and
focus groups generate huge amounts of data. If your project does not have the expertise
to analyze this data, the data may be wasted.
CAN WE DO IT?
Do you have enough time, money, and expertise? Some data collection methods are fairly
cheap and simple, while other methods are expensive and complex. For example, while
laboratory measurement creates fantastic, reliable data, very few teams have the
expertise, time, or money to collect data this way.
MEH Selects a Data Collection Method

Let’s use these questions to help MEH decide on a data collection method. MEH is
interested in measuring this outcome indicator:
The number of girls who say that they have started a business in the last year
Let’s go through each question and help them select a data collection method.
WHAT?
MEH is collecting data for a quantitative indicator. So, MEH will need to choose a data
collection method that will collect lots of quantitative data. Options include surveys,
laboratory measurements, document review, and observation.
WHO?
MEH is interested in knowing how many girls who participated in the project started new
businesses. That means that they will need to collect information from all of the
participants in the project - possibly a large group of people.
HOW OFTEN?
MEH is interested in collecting this data annually, every year for four years after the project
starts. That means that they might be able to use time-consuming methods if they need to.
BY WHOM?
MEH has several groups of people who can collect data for them. There are a few M&E
staff who can lead interviews or focus groups. There are also many untrained volunteers
who can collect data for MEH.
CAN WE DO IT?
MEH has some resources and expertise. They are hiring a small M&E team that can
design some tools, but they do not have enough expertise or money to use difficult
methods like laboratory measurement.
MEH is measuring the indicator: "The number of girls who say that they have started a business in
the last year." Based on the facts above, which would be the MOST appropriate data collection
method for MEH to select?
Observation
Interview
Focus Group
Survey
unanswered
For each situation below, select the MOST appropriate data collection method.
An organization wants detailed information about how their participants feel about their program.
Document Review
Interview
Laboratory Measurement
Observation
unanswered
An organization wants to know the historical birthrate in an area.
Document Review
Interview
Focus Group
Observation
unanswered
Try This: Logframe Update

Review the logframe that you submitted in the last module. Select a data collection
method for each indicator that is listed in your logframe. Record your data collection
methods in the “Means of Verification” column.
If you have already decided on means of verification, ask: are the means of verification
that you have chosen the appropriate methods for the indicator?
As you choose or revise your methods, ask:

 What: Will these methods provide the correct type of information?
 Who: Are they appropriate for the group of people that I’d like to collect data
from?
 How Often: Will I be able to use this method as often as I need to?
 By whom: Who will be collecting information? Are they qualified to use this
method?
 Can we do it: Will they be practical to use? Do I have the time, expertise and
resources to do a good job?
If not, choose a different method.
Data Collection Tools

Now that you have selected data collection methods, it is time to start designing the tools
that you will use. There are hundreds of types of tools and, unfortunately, it would take far
too long to describe how to create each one. However, there are a few tips that are helpful
to remember whenever you are designing a data collection tool.
In this section, we will discuss some things you should always consider whenever you are
creating a data collection tool. We will also explore in depth how to create one of the most
versatile types of data collection tools: a Participant Tracking Form for recording
observation data.
ONE NOTE BEFORE WE GET STARTED:
Sometimes it is possible to use a data collection tool that has already been created. If you
are measuring an indicator that other projects have already used, it is worth investigating
whether an appropriate tool already exists. Using a pre-existing tool can save a lot of time
and resources, and can ensure that the tool you use is high quality.
Looking for pre-existing tools? Indikit is a website that lists many data collection tools for
common relief and development indicators.
Grouping Indicators
Designing and using a data collection tool can be a time-consuming, expensive process.
So, before you start selecting data collection tools, it is important to ask: how can you
collect all the information that you need while creating and using the fewest possible data
collection tools?
To ensure that you are creating and using the fewest possible tools, group your indicators
into collections that can be measured with the same tool. A group of indicators can be
measured with the same tool if they share the same:
 Data Collection Method: Data for these indicators are collected using the same
method: interview, survey, etc.
 Source: Data for these indicators come from the same source: a group of
people, a place, an environmental feature, etc.
 Collection Schedule: Data for these indicators are collected on the same
schedule: weekly, monthly, annually, etc.
Once you have grouped your indicators, you may notice that a few of your indicators do
not belong to any group. If you find that you have an ungrouped indicator, ask: is it worth
designing (or finding) a tool for this single indicator? If not, could this indicator be
eliminated or changed so that it could be grouped with other indicators?
TRY THIS
Read through your logframe. Find groups of indicators that share the same data collection
method, source, and frequency of collection. How many groups of indicators do you have?
Are there any single indicators that do not belong to any group? Could they be eliminated
or changed to fit with other indicators?
Tips for Creating Data Collection Tools

The following design tips should be useful, regardless of the type of data collection tool
that you are creating.
1. IDENTIFY WHO WILL USE THIS TOOL
Consider who the user of the tool will be. The user is the person who will collect data with
the tool. Depending on your project, the user may be a staff member, a volunteer, or a
partner. Before you design your tool, consider these questions:
 What education does the user have?
 What experience has the user had in using data collection tools?
 How comfortable are they using this type of tool?
If you are able to answer these questions, you will have a much clearer idea of how to
design your tool. Perhaps your tool will be used by a volunteer with very little training and
an incomplete knowledge of the language. In that case, you will want to include detailed
instructions in simple language. On the other hand, if your user is an M&E specialist who is
fluent in the language, you can include more sophisticated instructions.
2. FOCUS ON ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
It can be tempting to keep adding parts to a tool: more questions! More information fields!
However, your tool can quickly become complicated, confusing and time-consuming to
use. Keep your tool simple by focusing on collecting essential information: the data that
you need to measure your indicators. Remember: to measure a single indicator you might
need to collect several types of information, such as the participants’ gender, location,
education level, and age. Focusing on this essential information will keep your tool from
getting too complicated.
3. COLLECT METADATA
In addition to collecting essential data related to your indicators, you need to collect some
metadata. Metadata is the information that explains how your data was collected. Data
collection tools should have a space to record the following types of metadata:
1. The title of the tool
2. The version of the tool
3. Who used the tool
4. Where they used the tool
5. When they used the tool
Your team may be interested in recording additional types of metadata, too. This metadata
will help your M&E team trace information back to its source. This will be important later for
ensuring data quality.
4. PRE-TEST YOUR TOOL
Before you send out your tool, it is best to ask a few different people to try using the tool. If
possible, have them test the tool in the same environment that it will eventually be used in.
Observe them using the tool and ask: is the tool used in the way that you expected it to be
used? Are there common mistakes that users make? Are certain words or questions
misinterpreted? Are there any questions that do not help you measure your indicator? You
can use this valuable information to revise your tool before it is distributed.
If it is not possible to pre-test your tool in the field, you may need to imagine what it would
be like to use your tool. Imagine that you are collecting data in the field and fill in the tool
with false data. You may want to ask a colleague to pretend to be a participant while you
test the tool. Is the tool simple to use? Is there enough room to record all the information
that you would like?
5. TRAIN STAFF TO USE THE TOOL AND INCLUDE

INSTRUCTIONS
Never assume that your tool is self-explanatory. Different people might interpret your form
differently. If that happens, the data that they collect will be inconsistent and inaccurate.
That is why it is so important to properly train everyone who uses the tool. Role-play
exercises can prepare staff for tricky situations that they might encounter. To run a role-
play exercise, ask one person to pretend to use the tool, and ask another person to
pretend to be a participant. The two people should act out how the tools are used.
It is equally important to include an instruction sheet that states the purpose of the tool and
describes step-by-step how to use it. Use simple, clear language for all instructions.
These tips will help you create any type of data collection tool, whether a simple
Participant Tracking Form (like the one that you will create in the next section of this
module) or a sophisticated interview guide.
TEXT: Designing Tools

In this text, NOPE explains how they created a data collection tool for their project
Wazesha Jamii.
One of our data collection

tools is a peer educator
session diary.
This is a form that collects data from the peer educators as they conduct their session.
Our peer educators are the ones that go out to the field.
They can collect information about their details of the facilitator.
They can collect details of those they helped share information with.
They could collect information about some questions that may have arisen and them they
were not able to answer.
They also collect information on materials that they shared within the session.
And, in case they referred their peer educators to another service, they record it in the
session.
Our peer educators were selected to fill this data.
The role that a peer educator plays in collecting data comparatively with a staff, is that peer
educators are easily accepted.
It is easy for peers to open up and tell them information that would be very difficult for
a staff member to go there and ask for.
These peers were selected from the community by their own peers and the project staff.
And therefore they were taken through a training on peer education and M&E.
We chose to use the session diary because it's a comfortable tool for the peer educators.
It's easy to fill in whatever form you can fill it with.
In the project we discovered that approximately 2% of the peers did not have any education.
So, we used translators to help them fill the tool, despite them not having any educational
background.
One of the key steps we took before we rolled out the tool was to take our previous used
tools
and we went to the community, to the women that we were going to work with,
and asked them how comfortable they were to fill in this tool.
Then we took it back to our project staff, who critiqued it and added any changes that
we needed made
and then we consulted our stakeholders who also gave us their input.
Finally we rolled out the tool, and after implementation, after about a month or so,
we kept going back to the community
and asking them to give us feedback on the challenges of filling this tool.
The most important thing about going back to the community and making sure that it is
easy for them to use
is because you rely on them so much to fill this data and to give you feedback.
Creating a Participant Tracking Form

Example Tool: Participant Tracking Form
In this module, your assignment is to create a commonly used data collection tool: a
Participant Tracking Form. This is a versatile type of tool that collects data on the people
who participate in a project. Nearly any project that has human participants can use a
Participant Tracking Form as a part of its M&E plan.
Participant tracking forms record a few pieces of information about every person who
participates in a project. For example, a health project may use a Participant Tracking
Form to record who visits their clinic, while an education project may record who attends
their classes.
A well-designed Participant Tracking Form makes it very simple for a user to record who
participates in a project, at what time, and in what way. This makes it a great tool for
observation. The data from this tool is extremely helpful for monitoring, as it allows you to
answer the question “who is receiving which services?” The data collected in this form
may eventually be used for evaluation purposes, too.
Take a look at the example below. What kind of information should be recorded in this
form? What kind of project was this designed for?
If your project does not have human participants, you might still be able to create some
type of tracking form. Take out your logframe and consider the process indicators - the
indicators that measure inputs and outputs. Is there an indicator that could be regularly
observed and recorded in a tracking form? A few examples of indicators that could be
tracked with this type of form include:
 Animals observed
 Houses built
 Water quality
There are six steps to creating a Participant Tracking Form (or any other type of tracking
form, if you do not have human participants). In the next few pages, you will explore each
of these steps:
 Understand your indicator
 Decide which types of information to record
 Decide how your form will be filled in
 Create your form
 Test your form
 Revise your form
Steps 1 and 2
Creating a Participant Tracking Form
In this module’s assignment, you will create a Participant Tracking Form for your project.
Before you begin, let’s build a form for MEH together.
Remember, MEH is distributing microloans to girls in their province. One output indicator
that they are interested in tracking is:
The number of girls who receive microloans from MEH
This is an output indicator that measures participation in their project, so it is a good fit for
a Participant Tracking Form. Let’s use the six steps that you have just learned to create a
Participant Tracking Form for MEH.
STEP 1: UNDERSTAND YOUR INDICATOR
Before they create their form, MEH will need to understand exactly how their indicator or
indicators should be measured. To do this, MEH looks at their Indicator Document. They
are interested in measuring the following indicator:
The number of girls who receive microloans from MEH
In their Indicator Document, they have specified that they would like to disaggregate this
indicator by:
 Age
 Hometown or village
They have also defined a “microloan” as a zero-interest loan with a value between 2000
Kenya Shillings and 50,000 Kenya Shillings, so they will also be interested in recording
how much each loan is worth.
STEP 2: DECIDE WHICH INFORMATION TO RECORD
Now that they understand their indicator, MEH recognizes that they will need to record:
 Whenever a girl receives a microloan
 The age of the girl who receives the microloan
 The hometown or village of the girl who receives the microloan
 The amount of the microloan
This is the minimum amount of information that they will need to accurately measure their
indicator. In addition to this information, they will also record some metadata: information
about how and when the data was recorded. So, they will also need to make space for:
 The title and version of the form
 The name and title of the person completing the form
 The location that this information was recorded at
 The date that this information was recorded
MEH might decide to add space for additional information, such as the name and school of
the participant. However, they should remember the second principle of good tool design:
Focus on Essential Data. They have already listed the essential data, so they should be
careful about including anything extra.
Steps 3 and 4
STEP 3: DECIDE HOW YOUR FORM WILL BE FILLED IN
MEH is almost ready to begin creating their form! Before MEH starts, however, it is
important to consider how this form will be filled in.
First of all, they need to consider who will fill in the form. Will a member of their team fill in
the form? Or will each participant write their own information? If participants are filling in
the form, how will MEH help participants who cannot write? MEH decides that their field
officers should fill in this form.
One way to make it easier to fill in a form is to use codes. Codes are short ways for users
to record common categories of data. Codes make it much quicker to fill in a form, and
allow more data to fit into a small space.
Commonly used codes include:

1. Writing “P” when a participant is present and “A” when a participant is absent
2. “X” or check marks
3. “M” for male and “F” for female
4. “Y” for yes and “N” for no
You can invent your own codes too, if there are categories of information that are recorded
repeatedly, such as locations. If you decide to use codes for your form, make sure that the
code is clearly described both on the form and in the instructions that accompany the form.
MEH would like to record the village or town that the girls are from. They are serving girls
from 8 towns and villages. Instead of writing out the full name of the town or village each
time, they create a code for the eight locations:
Marsabit: MA
Badassa: BA
Bubissa: BU
Kargi: KR
Kamboa: KM
Log-Logo: LO
Gudas: GU
Namarei: NA
They describe this code at the bottom of their sheet and in the accompanying instructions.
STEP 4: CREATE YOUR FORM
Now that MEH has decided which information to record and how to record it, they are
ready to create their form.
To create a form, open up a word processor such as Microsoft Word.
Spaces for recording metadata should go at the top of the form, where they will be easy to
see. Remember, this information includes the title of the form, the version of the form, the
date the form was completed, where the form was recorded, and the name and title of the
person who completed the form.
The rest of the data that will be recorded - the data that measures the indicator or
indicators - should go into a table with several columns and rows. Most Participant
Tracking Forms record one participant in each row of the table. Each column records a
different type of data about that participant, such as name, age or location. MEH will need
to record this data in their table:
 Whenever a girl receives a microloan
 The age of the girl who receives the microloan
 The home town or village of the girl who receives the microloan
 The amount of the microloan
Last, write down any codes that will be used at the top or bottom of the form. MEH will
need to write their location code here.
MEH used these tips to create their Participant Tracking Form. Take a look at their form. Is
there any information that is unnecessary? Are they missing any information?

Based on what you know about MEH’s indicator, which information would be MOST important to add
to this Participant Tracking Form?
participant age
participant job
participant satisfaction
participant ethnicity
unanswered
Submit
button.
STEP 4 (CONTINUED)
Finally, on a separate page, MEH writes a detailed set of instructions for the user of the
form.
When you are writing instructions, make sure that you are clear about who should fill in the
form, why they are filling it in, when it is necessary to fill in the form, and exactly how it
should be filled in, including any codes.
MEH includes these instructions:
 This form will be used by the project staff to record which participants receive
microloans from MEH. The data collected by this form will be reported to donors
and used by project staff to improve project activities.
 Each field officer is responsible for filling in this form every day that a microloan
workshop is held. A new form should be used on each occasion.
 The field officer should write their name, title, field office location, and the day’s
date on each form.
 Before the microloan workshop begins, record the names, ages, and home
towns/villages of each participant.
 The home town/village should be recorded using this abbreviation:
Marsabit: MA
Badassa: BA
Bubissa: BU
Kargi: KR
Kamboa: KM
Log-Logo: LO
Gudas: GU
Namarei: NA
 At the end of each workshop, record whether each participant was awarded a
microloan. Write “Y” if they received a microloan. Write “N” if they did not receive
a microloan.
 Write the amount of the microloan in Kenya Shillings. If no microloan was
awarded, leave the microloan amount column blank.
 If the girl did not receive a microloan, record the reason why in the notes area.
You may also use the notes area to record additional information you learn,
such as the participant’s plan for using the microloan.
 Enter all data from these forms into the project database weekly by Friday at 5
pm. Save all paper copies of the form in a folder in a locked file cabinet in the
field office.
Steps 5 and 6
STEP 5: TEST YOUR FORM
MEH is almost ready to use their form. Before they send it to their field officers, however,
they need to test it.
As we mentioned in the last section, it is always a great idea to test a form before it is
distributed. Ideally, MEH would give the form to a few different field officers who could try it
out in their microloan workshops.
However, if it is not possible to test your form in the real world, you can use your
imagination to test it. Find a colleague who can pretend to be a participant while you
practice filling in the form.
To do this, MEH imagines that they are using their form to record participants in their
microloan workshops. They fill in the form with false data about a number of imaginary
participants. As they fill in the form they ask: is there any information missing? Are there
parts that are confusing to use?
MEH uses this process to catch a few errors. They notice that they have not left enough
room to record full names and that they have forgotten to include space for recording
participant ages.
STEP 6: REVISE YOUR FORM
Finally, MEH uses the results of their tests to revise their form. They expand the name
area and add in a column for recording participant ages. Now they are ready to send these
tools to their field officers!
Module 5: Roles and Responsibilities
Welcome to the final module of this course! Take a moment to pause and congratulate
yourself. Over the past four modules, you have learned a lot about planning for M&E. You
have also created several valuable tools that will help your team achieve success. In fact,
by the time that you are finished with this module’s work, you will have created your M&E
plan.
Let’s take one last look at the steps for setting up your M&E plan.
In this module, we will complete Step 5: Define Roles and Responsibilities. This step is so
important. It is the moment when ideas become plans. You are starting this module with a
lot of ideas: outcomes, indicators, methods, and tools. By the time you are finished, you
will have a list of tasks for your team to do, and you will know which team member will
complete each task.
In this module, we will also begin to discuss Step 6: Decide How Data Will Be Used and
Analyzed. However, the topics of data analysis and data use are too large to cover in one
module, so we will not be completing this step in this course.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
 Explain how data are used on the project from collection through reporting
 Develop a data flow map for your own project’s data
 Develop a roles-and-responsibilities chart for your own M&E system
 Develop & review your assembled M&E plan
KEY TERMS
Here are a few important words that you will use this week
 Role
A job or position.
 Responsibility
A task or activity.
 Data Management
All of the processes for collecting, storing, organizing, accessing, analyzing and
using data.
 Collation
Organizing data by type. For example, all of the responses to the same question
may be grouped together.
 Archiving
Storing data long-term.
Introduction
Roles and Responsibilities
In the last module, we focused on a small part of your M&E plan: preparing for data
collection. Data collection, however, is only the first of several M&E processes. The goal of
this course is to prepare for M&E processes throughout your project.
In this module, we will shift our focus. Instead of simply focusing on data collection, we will
look at the entire M&E plan and consider two questions:
 What are the responsibilities - the tasks - that will need to be completed?
 Who are the people who will take on these responsibilities, and what are their
roles?
To answer these questions, we will need to consider the processes that happen after data
collection is complete. These processes include data entry, analysis, storage, verification,
and use. They are often referred to collectively as data management processes. Let’s
quickly review these processes. Once we understand data management processes, we
will be able to assign roles and responsibilities.
ONE NOTE BEFORE WE GET STARTED
There are many different ways that teams assign M&E roles and responsibilities. Perhaps
your team has an M&E advisor who will be overseeing all M&E operations. Or, perhaps
your team is planning on hiring an expert for evaluations but will spread out the rest of
M&E responsibilities among multiple staff. Or, you might have no M&E team at all and plan
on distributing responsibilities to everyone.
Each of these arrangements can work. The way that you assign M&E roles and
responsibilities will depend on your organization’s hiring preferences, on your team’s
resources and on the particular needs of your project.
So, the goal of this module is not to teach you everything that you could possibly learn
about staffing for M&E needs nor to recommend particular staffing arrangements. Instead,
the goal of this module is to give you a few practical tools that you can use to explore this
topic for yourself.
Ready to get started? Let’s go!
Data Management
The Data Factory
Data Management Processes: The Data Factory

You can compare a well-functioning data management process to a conveyer belt in a
factory. The first part of the conveyer belt brings raw materials into the factory: wood or
metal, for example. As the conveyer belt continues through the factory, the raw wood and
metal parts are sorted, shaped, assembled and eventually transformed into useful
products: chairs, cars or bottles, for example.
In the same way, a data management process starts by bringing in raw materials: data
collected from the project. As the data travels through the rest of the process it is
organized, stored, analyzed and, finally, transformed into useful products, such as reports
and decisions.
In this course, we have talked a lot about the first step: collecting data. But what about all
of the other steps in the data management process? Let’s explore the entire data
management process.
While each organization will have its own process for managing data, most data generally
go through these steps:
STEP 1: DATA COLLECTION
This is the step that we have already explored. Data from the project are collected using a
variety of data collection methods and tools.
STEP 2: DATA ENTRY AND COLLATION
After data are collected, they are entered into a data system. Your system might be a
digital database, an Excel spreadsheet, or a filing system in the central office. This is
usually the moment when data are organized. For example, all of the responses to a
single question might be grouped together. This process of grouping similar data together
is known as collation. Collation will make data analysis much simpler. If you are using a
digital data collection tool, data entry and collation may happen automatically.
STEP 3: DATA ANALYSIS, VERIFICATION, AND STORAGE

Once data are in the data system, they can be analyzed, verified and stored. Data analysis
is an extremely complex subject, and we will not have time to discuss it properly in this
course. Generally speaking, however, data analysis means using data to answer
questions and to reach conclusions. Many different people will probably participate in data
analysis. For example, your project team will analyze some data to make monitoring
decisions, while your evaluation team will analyze other data when conducting
evaluations.
Data also need to be regularly verified. This ensures that data are being accurately
collected.
Additionally, data need to be stored. Most data should be stored for the duration of the
entire project. After the project is completed, some of this data will be stored for future use.
This process is sometimes called archiving. You should be thoughtful about which data
are archived, and ensure that they are stored securely.
STEP 4: DATA USE
Eventually, data are put to some use. Some of the ways that data are commonly used
include:
 Creating reports
 Communicating outcomes to the community
 Making project management decisions
 Helping to design future projects
This is just a partial list of the many ways that data can be used. It is important to plan for
data use from the beginning of your project. Many organizations collect lots of data but do
not use very much of it. That is why we’ll spend some time today thinking about how your
project will use data.
Most data will go through these steps, although not necessarily in this order. Your data
management process will probably be much more complex than the four-step process that
you have just read. In the next section, you will have a chance to decide how your team
will manage data.
A NOTE ON DATA MANAGEMENT
As you may have noticed, many of the steps that we have just described are, such as data
analysis or data verification, are complex, challenging subjects that probably deserve their
own courses. Additionally, ensuring data security throughout the process is an enormously
important issue, and is difficult to do well. It is beyond the scope of this course to give
helpful advice on all of these topics. However, we hope that this overview gives you an
idea of the types of tasks that your team will be responsible for completing.
As we continue through this module, you will begin making some decisions related to
these subjects. However, as you do this, keep in mind that these are complex subjects
that we have not had the time to fully explore.
Drag and Drop (HF)
10 points possible (graded)
PROBLEM
An organization is collecting data on its project. Drag the following data management steps into the
correct order.
Volunteers record how many people participate in the project.
The project manager analyzes the process indicators.
Final reports are sent to donors and government agencies.
Field office representatives enter the data into the database.

FEEDBACK
Drag the data management steps into the correct order.
Data Flow Maps

As we just mentioned, your data management process probably will not be quite as simple
as the 4-step process that we just described. It is more likely that different types of data will
enter your system in different ways and at different times; that some steps will be repeated
or taken out of order; or that additional steps will be added in.
Data Flow Mapping is an exercise to help you visualize and plan your data management
process in all of its complexity. Take a look at the example below, which was prepared for
a project that delivers HIV testing, counseling and treatment to orphans and vulnerable
children (OVC).
This data flow map shows this organization’s complex data management process. It
contains a lot of information. Let’s explore what this data flow map shows, starting at the
bottom. As we look at the data flow map, ask yourself: how is this data management
process similar to your project’s data management process? How is it different?
The orange boxes at the bottom of the page are the three data collection tools:
 Participant Intake Forms, which record demographic and health information
about individual OVCs.
 HIV Testing and Counseling Records, which record the initial tests and
counseling sessions with participants.
 Antiretroviral Treatment Records, which record the types of medical treatment
that participants receive at the clinics.
There are two roles that are responsible for using these tools to collect data. These roles
are shown in green just above the data collection tools:
 Community Health Workers (CHW): There are 40 CHWs on the project.
These people are responsible for working with families and community agencies
to bring participants into the project. Every day they enter their data in the digital
database.
 Field Officers: There are two Field Officers at the clinic, each responsible for a
different type of service. Every week they collate their clinic’s treatment data and
enter it into the digital database.
Once data has been entered into the digital database, it is sent to the central office, where
it can be analyzed and used by the:
 Project Manager: The Project Manager monitors the data regularly, and uses
the information to make decisions. Additionally, several times a year the project
manager prepares reports and sends them on to the Executive Director.
 Executive Director: The Executive Director reviews and comments on reports.
She sends reports on to the organization’s Board of Directors, donors, and
government agencies. Once a quarter she has feedback meetings with local
community leaders where she shares findings from the reports.
As you can see, this organization’s data flow map illustrates the complex journey that data
take from start to finish. It visually shows important information about the data
management process without going into too much detail.
MEH’s Data Flow Map

In a moment, you will create a data flow map for your own project. Before you start,
however, let’s help MEH create their own data flow map.
STEP 1: DATA COLLECTION TOOLS
To start their data flow map, MEH gathers all of the data collection tools that they plan on
using. For their project, they have three tools:
 A participant tracking form completed daily by field officers
 A participant survey conducted monthly by the M&E team
 A review of the local government’s data on business registration also
conducted monthly by the M&E team
These are the three ways that data will be collected. They are the three places that data
will enter into the data management process.
To start their data flow map, they write down the names of these tools on three small
pieces of paper and place them at the bottom of their page.
STEP 2: DATA USES
Next, MEH considers all the ways that their project will use data, and how often these uses
will occur. The whole team has a conversation about the different ways that they would
like to use the data. They come up with the list below:
 donors will receive annual reports from the Director
 local government agencies will receive annual reports from the Director
 the entire organization will receive quarterly data summaries from the M&E
Team
 the Project Manager will analyze data weekly to help with decision making
 beneficiaries will receive a summary of project outputs and outcomes at an
annual community meeting
These are the five destinations of the data flow. MEH writes down these uses on pieces of
paper and place them at the top of their page, above the data collection tools.
STEP 3: DATA FLOW MAPPING
Notice that MEH has left a space in between their data collection tools and their data uses.
That is because there are many roles and responsibilities that come between data
collection and data use. MEH is ready to show how data moves through their system and
transforms into useful products. To fill in their data flow map, MEH asks:
Data Collection:
 For each of our tools, who will be responsible for data collection?
 For each of our tools, who will be responsible for ensuring data quality?
Data Entry and Collation:

1. Who will enter data?
2. Who will collate data?
3. Where will data be entered?
Data Analysis, Verification, and Storage:

a. Who will analyze data?
b. How often will data be verified, and who will verify them?
c. Who will decide what data gets archived after the project finishes? Who will
archive them?
Use:
1. Who will prepare reports?
2. Who will send reports?
3. Who will prepare other data products, such as monthly data summaries?
4. Who will use data to make project decisions?
MEH writes key roles, responsibilities, and documents on pieces of paper and arrange
these papers into a data management process. Their goal is to show, using pieces of
paper and arrows, the actions that will happen as data travels from collection to use.
Below, you will see what the data flow map looks like when it is partially complete. Notice
how the project manager paper was moved to the center of the data flow map since she
will both use data and send it on to other people.
There are two roles missing from this data flow map. Using what you know about MEH’s
data management process, can you help MEH complete their data flow map?
Drag and Drop (HF)
20 points possible (graded)
Keyboard Help
PROBLEM
Two roles are missing from MEH's data flow map. Drag the missing pieces of MEH’s data flow map into
the appropriate spaces.
Director
, draggable
Field Officer
, draggable
Try This: Create Your Own Data Flow Map
Data Flow Maps are very helpful tools for M&E planning. They show how data is collected,
managed and used. Most M&E plans will include a professional-looking data flow map that
has been created digitally. However, you can create a quick version of a data flow map
using only a few pieces of paper.
If you have not decided yet how your organization will manage data, do not worry.
Creating a data flow map can be a very helpful exercise to help clarify your data
management process, as it helps you to think about how roles, processes, and tools might
interact. Here is what MEH’s data flow map looks like when drawn on paper:
INSTRUCTIONS
For this exercise, you will need one large blank piece of paper and 10 - 20 small pieces of
paper or sticky notes.
1. Take out your logframe and read the Means of Verification column. Write down
each data collection tool on a sticky note or a small piece of paper. Arrange your
data collection tools at the bottom of the page.
2. Think about how your data will be eventually used: reports, presentations,
evaluations, or decisions. Write these uses on paper or sticky notes as well and
arrange them at the top of the page.
3. Consider all the roles that will help to manage this data. Who will:
1. Collect data
2. Enter and collate data
3. Check data quality
4. Analyze the data
5. Store data
6. Create reports
7. Send reports
8. Make decisions based on the data
2. Your data management process might have more roles than this! Write each of the
roles on a sticky note or piece of paper, along with the responsibilities that they
will do.
3. Organize all the roles, uses and tools into a data flow map. Data should start at the
bottom of the page and flow to the top.
4. Draw arrows between roles, tools, and uses to show how data travels. You may
want to label these arrows to describe what is happening when data moves from
person to person.
TEXT: Roles and Responsibilities

Nice work. The data flow map that you have created should have helped you to visualize
your project’s data management process. You may have also found, as you went through
the process of creating a data flow map, that you did not know who would do each task, or
that you did not fully understand each step of the data management process. That is fine!
It is important to discover these questions now, during the planning phase. Now you will be
able to discuss the questions with your team or with other students in this course and
create solutions.
In this text, NOPE explains how their team manages M&E roles and responsibilities.
Some of our roles that we have within the project include the monitoring and
evaluation team lead who is the manager, we have our project staff, we have our peer
educators who collect this data, we have our partners and government, we also have
our donors within the project. We make sure that people understand their roles
in the projects using data in the following ways. One we make sure that they
have an understanding of the monitoring and evaluation plan and they understand
the guidance on how to use data. Two, we make sure that they understand that this
data represents human beings and therefore data needs to be treated with
respect. Thirdly is we motivate our staff to go
through regular training within the life of the project on data use and how to
handle it.

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Planning for Monitoring and Evaluation

Module 1: Introduction to Monitoring and Evaluation

The Importance of M&E

WHAT ARE “MONITORING AND EVALUATION?”

ONE MORE NOTE ON M&E

CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING

10/10 points (graded)

recording how much money your project is spending

discovering which part of your project made the biggest difference

tracking how many people are participating in your project

CREATING AN M&E PLAN

About this Course

Your Guides to M&E

This Course's Focus

This course will focus on data collection and management.

This course will mostly focus on collecting data for monitoring.

The Project Cycle

The Project Cycle

Course Assignments and M&E Plan

 Know your project

 Module 1 Assignment: Introduction Document

 Introduction Document Template (pdf)

 Introduction Document Template (doc)

Module 2: Linking M&E to Project Design

In this module, you will learn how to:

How is Project Design Related to M&E?

Three Questions to Answer

Introducing the Logframe

IF you take a course, THEN you will have new knowledge.

Step 1: Define the Impact

So, we are going to start by defining MEH’s impact.

 An animal is saved from extinction

Step 2: Define Activities

0.0/10.0 points (graded)

Girls are able to buy household goods

Girls become financially independent

Money for small loans

Girls receive small loans

Girls spend their money wisely

Microfinance experts give advice

Girls learn financial skills

Step 3: Define Outcomes

Reviewing MEH’s Project Summary

Case Study: Project Design

Why is it important to do monitoring and evaluation during the design phase?

It is important to us because we can set targets easily, we can measure whether

in case of success and lastly we can document that evidence.

is a snapshot of the project implementation.

We use our logframe to

test our theory of change.

We use a scenario of "If and Then."

What we have promised:

if we put this input

does it give this result?

Risks and Assumptions

What are Risks and Assumptions?

Identifying Risks and Assumptions

 Girls might not want to start or upgrade businesses

We also adjusted our work plan and our targets.