Has there been a theory of what size a project should be before an M&E stack is justified, in generality? I’m thinking of the “value of moral information” chapter in Moral Uncertainty, that talked about the formula for calculating what percentage of an endowment should be spent on deciding how to spent the rest of the endowment.
Great question! In partial answer to your question, there is a commonly thrown-around figure that 5-10% of an organisation’s budget should be spent on evaluation (e.g. see INTRAC). But this is a pretty basic heuristic (indeed in the linked article they talk about a study that found a range of 0-25%). I think at a minimum all organisations should have some kind of theory of change (even if it is very basic) and should be collecting basic monitoring data to enable project management. But I think we do need more thinking and guidance around when and how you decide to do more M&E (especially the E!) and decide how to do this within your means. In other sectors this is also often driven by demand from funders too.
Has there been a theory of what size a project should be before an M&E stack is justified, in generality? I’m thinking of the “value of moral information” chapter in Moral Uncertainty, that talked about the formula for calculating what percentage of an endowment should be spent on deciding how to spent the rest of the endowment.
Great question! In partial answer to your question, there is a commonly thrown-around figure that 5-10% of an organisation’s budget should be spent on evaluation (e.g. see INTRAC). But this is a pretty basic heuristic (indeed in the linked article they talk about a study that found a range of 0-25%). I think at a minimum all organisations should have some kind of theory of change (even if it is very basic) and should be collecting basic monitoring data to enable project management. But I think we do need more thinking and guidance around when and how you decide to do more M&E (especially the E!) and decide how to do this within your means. In other sectors this is also often driven by demand from funders too.