 monitoring evaluation and learning mel  monitoring evaluation and learning mel goodpushadmin fri 1042019 1642 what is monitoring evaluation and learning mel  if you re new to mel the good news is that you are probably already doing some kind of mel you just haven t realized it yet this toolkit provides an introductory overview to a very big topic with resources for further learning at the bottom monitoring  how you know your programs are happening the way you planned evaluation  how you know the quality is good and the children are having fun and learning learning  what can we change or do better based on the new information we have an important element of mel is accountability  which means doing what you say you re going to do there are three main groups that nonprofit organizations have to consider accountability to the participants community accountability to the organization board staff accountability to donors why does mel matter  quality  to provide the best possible programs proof  to prove that your creative idea really works  money  to meet donor expectations and attract future funding often mel comes off as very technical and boring so people avoid it but  everyone should care  mel is the way that we ensure that we are doing good work and lets us prove it to others it helps to identify trends both positive and negative in order to make significant changes or improvements in the programs it s a process of reflection helping staff teachers to feel more connected and involved in the impact of the program and to see the results of their work good mel is an ongoing process not just a donor reporting cycle ideally you integrate it within programs from the start so it s done on a regular basis and can then easily be compiled and put into reports rather than trying to gather data under time pressure  most common monitoring tools attendance records headcounts  simplest way to start gathering data try to collect not just overall number of attendees but also information on gender disability etc registration forms if you have the same participants coming to your activities regularly it makes sense to have them and their parents guardians fill out a registration form this allows you to collect key data on who your participants are as well as include a skateboard at your own risk waiver and permission to appear in media associated with your project take a look at our participant registration form example for skateboarding sports projects surveys surveys are a type of monitoring one of the most common as an example skateistan surveys a sample of its students for each program location once per year which feeds into donor reporting annual report social media and website you can also use surveys for collecting educator feedback assessing trainings staff reviews it s also useful to do a survey whenever starting a new activity or program this is called a baseline for projects with an enddate not ongoing you can also do a final endline survey or otherwise run an annual survey to track progress check out this example survey for skateboard project participants  and feel free to adapt it into a survey for your own project it s good to do a mix of quantitative and qualitative monitoring because if you see a trend in the numbers you can find out some of the reasons why about logical frameworks aka logframes  a logframe is a visual tool for improving the planning implementation management monitoring and evaluation of projects a logframe shows the links between the project activities and result it is one of the most common mel tools especially for reporting to institutional donors ie governments foundations another popular mel framework is called a theory of change however to keep this overview short we ll just look at logframes for now example logframe for a skateboarding project  what are logframes and why are they important  ideal  help you to design programs by making a visual overview of the logic of your goals activities and mel logframe should be flexible and updated frequently reality  many donors require a logframe as part of the application process most require you to do in their own rigid format and becomes an unchangeable standard against which your program is assessed these have varying levels of complexity but if you have a basic version like this free logframe template  you can always adapt this as needed for donors logframes can be structured differently and terminology differs slightly with every single donor so check this before submitting application using logframes for program design  in theory writing a logframe should make it easier to plan and manage a project as you can see the sequence in which the actions lead to your overall goal requires you to look at your program not only topdown but also bottom up activities outputs outcomes goal it s best to write the logframe with everyone who might be involved in the project but this can be difficult to organize instead you can organize a workshop with participants community members staff volunteers and ask the following questions what should will we achieve what activities should will we do what resources people equipment needed potential problems how to measure success as a starting point however the main staff of a project can come together and draft a logframe for their programming a standard logframe is divided into four rows which are your long to shortterm objectives ranging from top to bottom since the terminology used in logframes can differ between organizations multiple terms for each are outlined below  goal impact  big picture and longterm ie to improve health and wellbeing for afghan children  outcome purpose objective  how the goal impact will be achieved ie increased access to safe recreational spaces  outputs results  quantity quality and timeline of results that the project has these are usually things you can count when you are running your activity ie number of skate sessions delivered  inputs activities  what activities are you delivering to make the program happen these are achieved and measured by the headings from left to right  project summary  where you write the details indicators  how you ll measure the progress you make towards the outcomes and outputs means of verification  how you ll collect the information for the indicators qualitative narrative  better at answering how and why openended questions  quantitative numbers  better at getting statistics closeended questions  risks and assumptions  external conditions needed to get results tip  it s often more useful to work backwards when making your logframe start with the impact and move backwards down towards your inputs to make sure everything connects this bridge analogy helps to understand logframes  source     next steps mel can be overwhelming there s always more to do and learn but just get started with the activities you have the time and resources to do then build it up as you go a first step can be to identify which mel activities your project is already doing and which new activities would be the most useful and achievable for your context and with your capacities  so what factor we re teaching kids to skateboard so what  think about what your project aims to achieve impact this might be quite broad such as improved quality of life or better education or healthier children but will help guide you to think how will we get there with our program  make a list of the mel activities you are already doing  this can be written into a short paragraph to provide to supporters choose one new mel activity to start doing  take a look at the mel resources section for a sample attendance sheet a sample participant survey and logical framework templates learn more  this overview only touches on the very basics of mel there are tons of resources about mel for nonprofits so check out more stuff on your own starting with our resource list below embedded video for monitoring evaluation and learning mel  if you want to provide the best possible skate programs it s essential to set goals and measure your progress mel helps you be accountable to those who support your work as well as to your participants this section features practical guides and templates about mel tools like surveys and logframes better evaluation stepbystep guide to mel  evaluation toolbox coachassist app free attendance tracking for android waves 4 change  monitoring evaluation toolkit sportanddevorg  nysan selfassessment tool for afterschool programs free logframe template tools4dev  logframe example tools4dev  skate nottingham monitoring and evaluation report 2018 example  skate nottingham evaluation report 2017 example  nonprofitreadyorg free ecourses  participant registration form example docx  daily monthly headcount template excel  ethical guidelines for mel pdf  skate program participant survey example pdf  