What Real-Time Evaluation Can Do For You

Instead of commissioning an external evaluation at the end of an intervention, real-time outcome monitoring allows organisations to quickly try out what works — and what does not — at the outcome level.

An Example

An NGO keeping girls in school uses a simple SMS-based system (like UNICEF's EduTrac) to track school attendance daily on an online platform.

Together with pupils, headmasters and teachers, they put together three different intervention packages — each implemented in 50 schools. Over three months, they closely follow what happens. After a while, they identify the most effective package. With this "proof of concept", they scale up to all 150 schools.

Implications for Donors

Donors could fund several NGOs with a simple goal — keeping more girls in school — and let them determine how. No logframes, no detailed activity planning. But: continuous tracking of performance data. After 6 months, scale up what worked.

Want to learn more? Check out the video course on Practical Results Based Management on Udemy.