To move from the concepts to the practical aspects of impact evaluation we can frame our thoughts around the questions:-

Who: who wants the impact assessment, who is responsible for managing the exercise, who is going to carry it out (do the assessment), who is going to be involved?

What: what is the scope and focus of the I.A. ; what will it look at, what are the key questions to answer, what are the indicators that we succeeded?

When: the timing of the I.A. ; at what point in the life of the project or programme will it take place?

Where: where will it take place, in one place or in many?

Why: we reiterate that the purpose of an I.A. is to be effective in our service to Christ. (See Ethos document)

How: how is the exercise to be carried out, how will information be gathered; how long will it take?

How much: what resources will be needed, financial and other?

What then: how will findings be reported and to whom; how will findings be shared and presented to different audiences; what is the procedure for follow up?

Remember, this Pack has a focus of Impact Assessment as related to transformational projects. The points covered can also apply to impact assessments of emergency work, particularly if emergencies are understood from a development perspective.

Toolkits, Chapter 9, pgs 115 to 142 discusses evaluation in the context of emergencies.

It can also be applied to long term Capacity Building, and to advocacy. Indeed the organisation of the NGO would like to assess the impact of all elements of its work, and we believe that these same concepts apply to all Impact Assessments. However because ‘project’ is still the most widely-used term to describe transformation activities, we have at times used it in this guide, even though it is rather a limited way of describing transformation.

The questions, who, what, where, etc, should be asked when considering a project proposal for funding, or deciding how best to organise an operational project (Emergency, Advocacy, Capacity Building, etc). The NGO needs to be quite explicit about how it is going to assess the partnership’s performance over time, and what its expectations are in terms of monitoring of activities and assessment of impact. Regarding impact it is important that all the partners are clear about what commitments they are making to the other partners, to the beneficiaries and to God, and how its own performance will be judged. These expectations should be the subject of negotiations when financial and other support is discussed.

To reiterate the seven concepts:-

We, the NGO Partnership, should take time to reflect on our work and to "evaluate" its value or worth. Genesis 1:31 tells us that "God saw everything he had made and it was very good....." Having worked for 6 days, God looked back at what he had done and made an assessment of it. Thus it could be said that the first activity that took place in the completed universe was evaluation (IA). Impact assessment is a tool for assessing the worth of our actions. IA is a key to informing our future decisions and improving our effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability.

This Pack will focus on Impact Assessment as related to Transformational projects. The points covered can also apply to impact assessments of emergency work, particularly if emergencies are understood from a development perspective. It can also be applied to long term Capacity Building, and to advocacy. Indeed the organisation of an NGO would like to assess the impact of all elements of its work, and we believe that the same principles apply to all Impact Assessments. However because ‘project’ is still the most widely-used term to describe transformation activities, we have at times used it in this guide, even though it is rather a limited way of describing transformation.