Logos: Heart Foundation and Australian Active Innovation Challenge

Module 6.2: The value of monitoring and evaluation

AAIC training modules

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Module 6

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Module 6.2

The value of monitoring and evaluation

Good monitoring and evaluation (M&E) aren’t just about reporting to funders, it’s about learning what’s working, what could be improved, and how to show the value of your efforts. This module highlights how M&E can support both your team and your community.

This module will explore:

  • Why M&E matters for community-based programs
  • How M&E builds trust and helps you tell your impact story
  • Common myths about M&E, and what to do instead

Learning outcome:

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to explain the purpose of M&E and how it can help you learn, improve, and advocate for your work.

Introduction video

Monitoring and evaluation to enhance your program effectiveness

Monitoring and evaluation might seem like tasks only large organisations need, but they’re powerful tools for every community project, even small ones! When you monitor and evaluate your work, you learn what’s working well, discover areas for improvement, and can communicate your success clearly to funders and your community. Grosvenor (n.d.) outlines six key benefits:

Why power of M&E:

Creating an M&E plan helps your team understand what you’re working toward. Roles become clear, and everyone stays focused. You also gain a stronger culture of accountability, not only to your funders but also to your community.

M&E lets you answer questions you may have about your program. Are people really enjoying the program? Is it making a positive impact? Evaluation can highlight areas for improvement or confirm where your work is having impact.

Evaluation isn’t just about ticking boxes, it’s a tool for learning. When you regularly reflect on what’s working (and what’s not), you can strengthen your project over time. This mindset builds a culture of growth and resilience.

Ongoing monitoring gives you live feedback, so you don’t have to wait until the project ends to find problems. You can make small changes along the way, keeping your project agile and responsive.

Involving participants in evaluation, for example through surveys or interviews, helps create honest conversations and builds community trust, which is critical for any community-based program.

Evaluations help you adopt strategies that work and avoid repeating past mistakes, both in your own project and by learning from others. Sharing what you discover builds credibility, strengthens your approach, and contributes to a culture of continuous improvement.

Benefits of M&E for your wider network and support

M&E provides great tools to help aid your program on the ground, but it also helps you communicate with stakeholders, including potential funders.

If your project is funded by the Heart Foundation, government, or other partners, you’ll likely need to report on your outcomes, not just what you did, but what difference it made. Having a simple M&E system in place helps you do this with confidence. Many funders including the Commonwealth now expect qualitative and quantitative evidence (Grosvenor, n.d.), and M&E helps you collect both.

M&E shows how your resources were used and what outcomes you achieved. This matters to funders, but it also increases trust with your community. Being transparent about your progress and learning shows you’re thoughtful, committed, and responsive.

Checking in regularly helps you learn what’s working and what’s not. If your walking group isn’t attracting many people, your data might show that the timing’s off or transport is tricky. These insights help you make small changes that improve things straight away.

Monitoring and evaluation helps you move beyond guesswork. It gives you real insight into what’s working, what needs adjusting, and where to focus your energy. The European Commission (2004) notes that evaluations help assess key aspects like relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability, all essential for strong program delivery.

When you can clearly show your results, through both stories and data, funders and partners take notice. Good M&E helps you tell a compelling, credible story, making your project more competitive for future grants. As noted by BetterEvaluation (n.d.), strong evaluations support learning and advocacy, which helps with long-term sustainability and scaling.

Projects that track outcomes over time are better placed to keep going. For example, if your physical activity program helps older adults improve their mental health or feel less isolated, that’s strong evidence for growing the program or getting more support.

Now that you’ve explored why M&E matters, take a moment to map out who in your team will carry out different parts of your M&E plan, and what support they might need to do it well.

This activity helps you clarify roles, identify gaps, and make your M&E work more doable from the start.

Click to download the Who’s Got the M&E Hat? worksheet (PDF)

How M&E helps you win future funding

M&E builds your credibility and strengthens your case for support. It shows funders that:

Funders want to invest in organisations that deliver results and learn along the way - M&E helps you show that.

Watch this video by teacher in Comparative Evaluation Theory, Michael Quinn Patton (2022), explaining why evaluation is important.

Takeaways

Monitoring and evaluation aren’t just about satisfying funders. They’re about helping your program thrive.

They give you:

  • Clarity for your team
  • Evidence for your funders and supporters
  • Insight for better decisions
  • Stories that show your impact
  • Opportunities for advocacy and improvement
  • Readiness for growth and sustainability

Red line

M&E is more than just reporting. It’s a powerful tool for learning, advocacy, and impact.

It helps you to:

  • Understand what’s changing and why
  • Advocate with real results and stories
  • Learn and improve as you go
  • Build stronger support with evidence that matters
Reflection icon

Reflection:

Take a few minutes to think about the questions below.

  1. What are three ways your program could benefit from monitoring and evaluation?
  2. How do you currently track progress and outcomes in your program?
  3. What kind of evidence would help you strengthen your next funding application?
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