Monitoring, evaluation & learning
MEL system design and setup for nonprofits
You collect data, but it sits in spreadsheets that nobody uses — and when a funder asks for evidence of impact, you scramble.
What you'll achieve
A practical, organisation-wide MEL system that makes data collection routine and impact reporting straightforward.
How a Nonprofit Builder consultant helps
- Assess your current practices, design a system scaled to your capacity, and support your team in setting it up and embedding it into workflows.
Key deliverables
- MEL framework, indicator library, data collection templates, reporting calendar, staff guidance note.
Related projects
More from Monitoring, evaluation & learning
Data collection tool design & implementation
“Your team uses a patchwork of spreadsheets, paper forms, and ad hoc surveys — data is incomplete, inconsistent, and impossible to aggregate.”See project
Data visualisation for impact reporting
“You have the data but it sits in spreadsheets — your reports are walls of text and numbers that fail to communicate what you have actually achieved.”See project
Impact assessment & reporting
“When a funder asks 'what was your impact?', you can only provide a list of activities you completed.”See project
Often paired with
From the resource library
Free tools and guides to get started
- 7.1C084
Monitoring, evaluation and learning
A short toolkit that helps small NGOs set up monitoring, evaluation and learning they can run with few staff and little money. It is one of 5 toolkits from INTRAC's Strengthening Small Organisations with Big Ambitions project for small UK charities working internationally. It comes as a PDF and a lighter online version for slow connections and mobile use, under a Creative Commons licence.
Start hereCurrentKey manual or guideFree - 7.3C093
Building a Strategic Learning and Evaluation System for Your Organization
A guide from FSG on making evaluation systematic and tied to strategy across an organisation. It covers the parts of a strategic learning and evaluation system: an evaluation vision, a learning culture, clear strategy, coordinated activities and a supportive environment. It explains how to frame learning questions for 1 to 3 years and decide what to evaluate, when, and how to use findings. A webinar and slides accompany it.
Start hereClassicKey manual or guideFree with sign-up