Monitor Institute

15th November 2011

I am very impressed by what Monitor Institute has to say on impact assessment:

"Much energy and many resources are expended each year on program evaluation for social change efforts of all types. But the field of evaluation is rife with conflict (between academics and business thinkers, and among loud proponents of one methodology or model over another) and limitations (such as the challenge of demonstrating causality in complex systems). Evaluation reports are rarely shared and are almost never rolled up into a system-wide picture of what is being attempted and achieved by all of the various funders and actors. As a result, our view of what works is fragmented, and very little real learning takes place at the level of the system. In the face of these challenges, many have thrown up their hands, feeling paralyzed by the difficulties and missed opportunities for learning.

A breakthrough in perspective is desperately needed. Monitor Institute is committed to helping innovative leaders de-mystify the work of assessing impact and to changing the frame from a methodological debate to a conversation about what is important to know that would improve results. Over the last year, for example, the Institute has worked with the Hawai’i Community Foundation to develop a “Field-Level Scorecard” that helps a network of youth development grantees collectively select meaningful indicators, track trends against those indicators over time, and see - clearly and unequivocally - whether the needle is moving on their issue."