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.
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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?Setting 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.Evaluation design
This resource from the New South Wales Department of Environment provides guidance on designing and planning evaluations.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.Environment, 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.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.Evaluating the environmental impact of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the COVID-19 pandemic
This Footprint Evaluation case study explores the feasibility and value of considering environmental sustainability in the evaluation of personal protective equipment (PPE) provisioning during the COVID-19 pandemic.Bradford Hill criteria for causal inference
Based on a presentation at the 2015 ANZEA Conference, this free downloadable book presents the Bradford Hill criteria and discusses some ways of using them in practice to draw causal conclusions.Conducting and using evaluability assessments in CGIAR
This resource forms part of CGIAR's evaluation guidelines, describing how to use evaluability assessments to facilitate better evaluation outcomes.Data ethics guidebook & toolkit
This data ethics guidebook and accompanying toolkit from Informing Change and The David and Lucile Packard Foundation deliver practical guidance and customizable tools for navigating ethical issues in research and evaluations.Evaluative thinking
This set of webpages and video from the Department of Education in New South Wales, Australia, provides background information on evaluative thinking and its use.The core of evaluation: Evaluative thinking
This AEA365 blog by Tom Grayson provides a list of quotes from notable evaluation colleagues about the importance of evaluative thinking.SAMEA knowledge compendium 2019
This resource, produced by the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association (SAMEA) brings together a range of content about monitoring and evaluation practice.Working with lived and living experience researchers: A practical framework
This blog provides guidance and examples on co-evaluating with lived and living experience (LLE) researchers.Evaluation in the Government of Canada
The Results Division of the Secretariat of the Government of Canada provides advice and guidance on evaluation practices across the federal government.Best of AEA365: Approaching document review in a systematic way
In this blog post, Linda Cabral discusses document reviews and highlights the importance of conducting them systematically.Revised site-visit standards: A quality-assurance framework
Michael Quinn Patton provides a revised framework for site-visit standards to distinguish between those that provide minimal quality control and those that might ensure excellence.Process and implementation evaluations: A primer
In this working paper for the Center for International Development at Harvard University, Patricia Rogers and Michael Woolcock argue that implementation and process evaluations serve the vital purpose of jointly promoting accountability and