Cordaid’s experience with impact evaluation

Overview

In 2007, Cordaid started a pilot on participatory impact assessment, intended to enhance accountability and to improve learning. The methodology was based on quasi-experimental design, complemented with qualitative research. This case study illustrates the challenges INGOs and their partners face in their attempt to find a rigorous yet, relevant, useful, and socially acceptable methodology for evaluation and impact assessment purposes. While most local NGOs participating in this pilot consider (parts of) this methodology useful for their learning, this approach proves unsuitable, costly, and inappropriate for an INGO such as Cordaid since it does not respond to its own accountability and learning needs.