METRA

Many of the organizations who turn to us are looking to develop basic M&E competencies in their own organizations. Sometimes this is as simple as helping staff develop better questionnaires and establishing the processes for data collection, processing and reporting. For organizations who are juggling multiple development funders, we generally provide a centralized M&E system to track indicators alongside monitoring platforms. And for those who really want to advance learning processes in their organizations we can train staff in advanced qualitative and quantitative data processing, both manual and with AI tools. 

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We have also been asked on multiple occasions to lecture on evaluation in nonprofits, both in independent development workshops and university courses. We are happy to provide references for these as well! 

 

Among some of the topics we've lectured on recently:  

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• Evaluation Made Easy: How to develop simple collection designs and procedures to get objective data on the indicators that matter the most for your organization, in a way that doesn't break the bank or exhaust your staff. 

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• Better Program/Proposal Development: Navigating logical frameworks, theories of change and developing the tools and designs by which you will both measure your program's impact and communicate your findings to your funders already at the proposal stage.

 

• Surveys from A to Z: A quick introductory course on everything organizations need to know to develop effective surveys on their own: How many questions is optimal? What kinds of surveys are best for which ages? What is the best way to ensure people respond?
  Scaled item vs. Yes/No questions; an explanation of sample sizes; and how to quickly and efficiently process data using simple tools are all part of the course process.  

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• Using Qualitative Data Effectively: Many ​organizations collect robust qualitative data (whether in the form of feedback sheets, open questions on surveys, Facebook or social media comments, or other beneficiary response designs), but very few know how to actually process them correctly. This 2-hour course provides several 'grounded' techniques to assist organizations to effectively deploy the data they receive every day into organizational learning.

  

• Understanding Performance Monitoring: While many private grant-making foundations are primarily interested in impact, overseas development funders have transparency requirements that require the development of robust monitoring platforms. This short course is designed to familiarize awardees of these agencies understand their funders' mindset and develop straightforward monitoring tools that spare hours of headache.

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For organizations seeking personalized guidance on any of these or related topics, we are also available to provide one-on-one consulting services. ​