Use of Program Evaluations by International NGOs

Journal: Why Not Evaluate

Program evaluations are regarded as some of the most important processes for non-governmental organizations and effective management practices. The significance of these processes is attributable to their necessity for funders in terms of knowing the programs they are funding and the effectiveness of the programs. Program evaluations act as the premise with which non-governmental organizations establish their own feedback mechanisms in order to avoid selection and subjective bias while enhancing their effectiveness (Savedoff, 2012). However, many international non-governmental organizations do not utilize any form of program evaluation. Despite recognizing the significance of programs evaluations, many non-governmental organizations do not entrench it in their processes and management practices.
One of the reasons for the failure by many international non-governmental organizations to utilize program evaluations is the potential negative consequences that such evaluations would have on their operations if their programs are deemed ineffective (Merchant-Vega, 2011). If program evaluations demonstrate that an NGO’s programs are ineffective, the organization risks diminished budgets, institutional incentives, and funding. Secondly, many international NGOs fail to utilize program evaluations because few donors demand or fund such processes despite the common donor rhetoric. In this regard, donors do not consider investments in knowledge generation as beneficial to them, which contributes to relatively no demand for non-governmental organizations to carry out program evaluations. The third reason is practical programmatic challenges that inhibit a NGOs capability to conduct experimental evaluations on its programs. These programmatic challenges are partly attributable to the limited number of staffs and their capacity in conducting rigorous program evaluations as part of an organization’s processes and management practice.
References
Merchant-Vega, N. (2011). Practical challenges of rigorous impact evaluation in international governance NGOs: Experiences and lessons from The Asia Foundation. Retrieved from https://asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/OccasionalPaperNo8IEFinal.pdf 
Savedoff, W. (2012). Impact evaluations everywhere: What’s a small NGO to do? Center for Global Development. Retrieved from http://www.cgdev.org/blog/impact-evaluations-everywhere-what%E2%80%99s-small-ngo-do