The BetterEvaluation Resource Library contains hundreds of curated and co-created resources related to managing, conducting, using, and strengthening capacity for evaluation.
You can use the search field and filtering on this page to find resources that you are interested in or you can browse our extensive list. An alternative way to find resources best suited to your needs is to explore the Rainbow Framework, where you can find resources relating to evaluation methods, approaches and tasks.
L’Évaluation en situation réelle
Dans le Chapitre 16 du livre, nous examinons les façons dont les approches d’Évaluation en situation réelle (ESR) peuvent être appliquées à tous les stades de la conception et de la mise en œuvre d’une évaluation typique.Evaluation report writing
What elements should you highlight in your evaluation reports? How can you craft your evaluation reports so they are both readable and useful for program managers? What is the right balance between narrative explanation and data visualization?Writing for professional audiences
American University’s Measurement & Evaluation program recently held a virtual workshop on Writing for Professional Audiences with Sherri McCarthy.Mainstreaming Environmental Sustainability in Evaluations where the environment is not the focus (Webinar recording)
This recorded webinar featuring Scott Chaplow, Juha Uitto, Eddah Kanini, and Lennise Baptiste provides a useful discussion of evaluation's role in mainstreaming environmental concerns, as well as practical guidance and resources for evaluators on how toSetting new standards for better MEL: Lessons for grantees & funders
This brief shares insights from the efforts of The Economic Justice Program (EJP) of the Open Society Foundations' Strategy & Impact Unit to develop a focused, principles‑driven approach to monitoring and evaluation.Monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) toolkit for grantmakers and grantees
Resources to support and inspire better MEL among donors, grantees, and their partners, developed by a global grant-making team.Rebalancing grantee/donor power for better MEL
Though it’s not often acknowledged, funders are almost entirely reliant on grantee MEL practices to understand the impact of their resources in the world.Designing donor MEL systems and policies
Like other grant-making organizations, the Open Society Foundations achieve impact largely through the work of its grantees. But this doesn’t mean that MEL is limited to grantees alone.Emphasizing evaluative thinking for complex systems change
Each portfolio team within the Economic Justice Program was tasked with creating its own approach to learning and evaluation to address the complex challenges that it was seeking to address.Seeding innovation, evidence, and grantee-led learning in the economic justice field
The provision of infrastructure, community-building, and resources for learning across the field and among grantees was a major feature of the monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) support that the Open Society Foundations’ Economic JusEvaluation design
This resource from the New South Wales Department of Environment provides guidance on designing and planning evaluations.Analyzing cause and effect in environmental assessments: Using weighted evidence from the literature
This article describes the Eco Evidence analysis framework, a type of causal criteria analysis that uses available evidence to assess support for a hypothesis.Grantee MEL capacity assessment
This resource, part of the MEL Toolkit for Grantmakers and Grantees, provides a simple discussion/interview guide to assess grantee capacity across several components of MEL.Grantee reporting menu
This resource outlines the menu of reporting options developed as an approach to reporting that was more flexible and clearer for grantees and provided more insights to program officers.The Economic Justice Program’s monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning sub-strategy 2021–24
This sub-strategy from the Economic Justice Program explicitly outlines the purpose of MEL within the program, along with specific goals and guiding principles.Introduction to MEL for program staff
This tool is a presentation that the Open Society Foundations’ Economic Justice Program MEL team delivered to program colleagues to get them more familiar with MEL and suggest practical steps for considering it in their work.Indicator framework for OSF’s Economic Justice Program
This resource is the framework that the MEL team in the Open Society Foundations’ Economic Justice Program developed to compile, categorize, and make sense of a range of different indicators across the program’s grant-making portfolio.Developing a data collection platform: Vendor evaluation form
This resource is the form used by Open Society Foundations’ Economic Justice Program team to evaluate potential vendors to design and implement a new data platform for MEL.Terms of reference for evaluators and steering committees
This resource is a compilation of three separate terms of references to support different components of evaluations of Open Society Foundations’ Economic Justice Program.A guide to developing, refining, and using milestones
This guide provides a set of recommended steps for defining, refining, and integrating milestones while developing a theory of change.Theory of change example for grant portfolios
This resource is a theory of change example that was developed for an anti-corruption portfolio (2016–21); it includes standard theory-of-change components, such as outcomes and activities, as well as elements more specific to OSF’s longer-Template for developing a portfolio learning strategy
This resource is the template that the Economic Justice Program MEL team developed for the portfolio learning agendas of EJP's inaugural strategy.Close-out note for the Enhancing Impact for Economic Justice portfolio
This resource is a portfolio close-out note that was originally developed for colleagues internally at OSF: It provides an overview of the portfolio (its aims, structure, and scope) along with reflections on key achievements and lessons leaMEL jamboree facilitator agendas
These agendas, for grantee “MEL jamborees”, provide a detailed view of not only how an actionable learning event for MEL could be structured but also offer an insight into the interests, challenges, and opportunities facing grantees when itLearning Exchange Fund overview and application form
The MEL team in the Open Society Foundations’ Economic Justice Program created a special fund to support structured learning and collaboration between its existing grantees.UNDP 2021/2022 Human Development Report. Uncertain times, unsettled lives: Shaping our future in a transforming world
This report comprehensively considers human development at a time of a new ‘uncertainty complex’ created by layers of uncertainties interacting.Biodiversity and the economic response to COVID-19: Ensuring a green and resilient recovery
This policy brief “outlines how biodiversity loss is a key driver of emerging infectious diseases and poses a variety of other growing risks to businesses, society and the global economy.Evaluation at the endgame: Evaluating sustainability and the SDGs by moving past dominion and institutional capture
“Business-as-usual evaluation will not suffice.The rights of nature: An emerging transformation opportunity for evaluation
This article invites evaluators to engage with the concept of the Rights of Nature: “recognizing ecosystems and natural communities not as property that can be owned but as entities that have an independent right to existEnvironment, climate change and assessment - towards a holistic view
This blog by Juha Uitto, Director of the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the Global Environment Facility, points out that evaluation needs to take a new, holistic perspective to address serious environmental problems.L’évaluation en contexte de développement
Ce manuel est destiné aux personnes souhaitant s’initier à l’évaluation de programmes, en particulier en contexte de développement et de coopération internationale. À cet égard, tout en déroulant le fil d’une démarche évaluative classique, il présente…Pulling up the floorboards: Reshaping accountability and evaluation in an era of core costs grantmaking
In this thought paper, Jim Coe and Rhonda Schlangen argue for evaluating effectiveness using a new accountability model.