Resources to Plan Impact Assessment

Samuhik Pahal Team

Professionals in the development sector recognize the importance of assessing the impact of their programs. However, all assessments require a deeper understanding of impact evaluation and its relation to the intervention and the desired change. To that end, real-world examples and practical guidelines for designing and implementing impact evaluations help.

UNICEF program managers focus on core building blocks such as theory of change, evaluative criteria, and evaluative reasoning. Beyond goals and objectives, they also investigate any unintended consequences. Learn more about their approach here and watch this video to learn about the various elements of impact evaluation process and managing its various stages.

The MERL framework is a useful tool to capture the lessons learned from assessments—both positive and negative— and to track the project. ‘MERL’ is an acronym for four related elements of project design and implementation: Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting, and Learning. More information about the framework can be found on Pacific Islands Development Program’s website, here.

Speaking about frameworks, NONIE (Network of Networks on Impact Evaluation), established to enhance impact evaluations among development professionals, provides an approach for aligning impact assessment methodologies and designs with programs and policies.

Consider referring to their framework here to sharpen your research design. Both are useful frameworks when presenting your projects to funders.

While impact evaluation has traditionally been led by donor agencies, more and more donors are realizing that active involvement of target groups in impact evaluation can create long-term impact.

For many organizations, one of their primary concerns is how to engage partners, beneficiaries and stakeholders in a respectful manner, while also leveraging and developing local evaluation capabilities.

You can refer to this document, which has been utilized by USAID missions to provide practical guidance in the areas of planning, commissioning, and implementing locally led assessments.

Each domain such as education, health, humanitarian relief assistance, governance, climate change, or microfinance, requires applying specific evaluation methods. The 3ie and the Asian Development Bank video lecture series on impact assessment provides an overview on this in addition to covering some of the core concepts in impact evaluation. Watch the videos here to deepen your understanding.

Over the past years, impact assessment has emerged as a critical component of program development. At the same time, the changing needs of decision-makers, and the decisionmaking process, have become increasingly complex.

These resources can help us reflect on how far we have come, how we are doing in terms of practise and effectiveness, and on present and future challenges and opportunities.

Other Resources

World Bank Open Knowledge Repository - Impact Evaluation in Practice, Second Edition (worldbank.org)

Government of Australia - Choosing appropriate designs and methods for impact evaluation (industry.gov.au)

Community Ownership in Evaluation - Reshape How We Think about Development and Evaluation

3ieimpact – Evidence Maps - Primary and Secondary Education Evidence Gap Map

MOOC - Online course on evaluating social programsPoverty Action LabOnline courses on Impact EvaluationUSAID Evaluation Report Template

Evaluation Report Template | USAID Learning Lab

Acknowledgement: The Samuhik Pahal Team acknowledges the help of Binoy Cherian, Rahul Mukhopadhyay, Indira Patil, Dwithiya Raghavan and V. P. Vishwas for their help in compiling this set of resources on impact assessment.