Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning in NGO Advocacy - Findings from Comparative Policy Advocacy MEL Review Project

For organizations committed to social change, advocacy often figures as a crucial strategic element. How to define and assess effectiveness in advocacy is, therefore, equally important. Questions around the efficacy and usefulness of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning [MEL] practices in advocacy are subject to much current debate. Advocacy staff, MEL professionals, senior managers, the funding community, and stakeholders of all kinds are searching for ways to improve ways of working, and thus their odds of success, in complex and contested advocacy environments.

This study considers a sample of what a selection of leading advocacy organizations are doing in practice. We set out to identify existing practice and emergent trends in advocacy-related MEL practice, to explore current challenges and innovations, to assess perceptions of how - and how well - MEL contributes to overall advocacy effectiveness, and to understand the level of resources dedicated to MEL.