To work with the Guidebook, follow each step as it’s laid out. You’ll find worksheets and links to extra tools and resources that will help you through the process. After undergoing all the steps and gathering your information and outcomes, you can compile them into a Case for Investment Report.
Reading through the entire guide before starting can help save time by identifying stems that can be done simultaneously. Once you’ve read through it, go back to the start and begin working through the steps. Keep in mind, not everything in the guide might apply to your specific project.
For those experienced in this kind of work, this guide can serve more as a reference. Funders or investors may want to pay extra attention to the general approach and how to use the outcomes.
Beware of overconfidence and overstating
When presenting your CBWM program, it’s natural to focus on successes and downplay challenges, especially when seeking funding. However, overconfidence or justifying past investments (the sunk cost fallacy) can lead to overstating benefits and overlooking areas for improvement.
This online Guidebook encourages a transparent approach: acknowledge both your successes and areas for improvement. Doing builds credibility and strengthens your Case for Investment. Funders value honesty and a clear understanding of a program’s impact—both its successes and its challenges. By presenting a balanced narrative, you help potential investors make informed decisions, ensuring the long-term sustainability and growth of your CBWM program.
Toolkit steps
- Step 1 – Case for Investment project scoping
- Step 2 – Understand the context
- Step 3 – Identify and characterize net costs and benefits
- Step 4 – Measure the changes
- Step 5 – Value the changes / benefits
- Step 6 – Calculate the overall return on investment
- Step 7 – Validate results
- Step 8 – Communicate
Next: Go to Step one
Skills and time required to develop a case for investment
Conducting a full program evaluation requires a diverse set of skills to ensure that the process is conducted effectively and produces valuable insights. This guide offers a basic step-by-step approach. As any evaluation can get complicated, it’s important to understand what skills and background you need before you start.
Here are some general skills required to conduct a program evaluation:
- Analytical skills: The ability to analyze data, identify trends, and draw conclusions from complex information.
- Critical thinking: The capacity to assess the strengths and weaknesses of a program, and to identify areas for improvement.
- Research skills: The ability to gather relevant information from various sources, including literature reviews, interviews, and surveys.
- Data collection and management: Proficiency in collecting, organizing, and managing data, including both quantitative and qualitative data.
- Evaluation design: The ability to design an evaluation plan that includes clear objectives, appropriate methodologies, and a realistic timeline.
- Communication skills: Strong written and verbal communication skills are essential for presenting findings, writing reports, and engaging with stakeholders.
- Partner and stakeholder engagement: The ability to engage with partners and stakeholders, including program staff, funders, and beneficiaries, to gather input and ensure buy-in.
- Ethical considerations: Knowledge of ethical principles and guidelines related to research and evaluation, and the ability to ensure that the evaluation is conducted ethically and responsibly.
- Project management: The ability to manage a complex evaluation project, including coordinating team members, tracking progress, and meeting deadlines.
- Cultural competence: Sensitivity to cultural differences and the ability to engage affected parties in a culturally appropriate manner.
- Adaptability: The ability to adapt to changing circumstances and adjust the evaluation approach as needed.
- Interpersonal skills: The ability to work effectively with others, including team members, stakeholders, and program participants.
- Technical skills: Depending on the nature of the program being evaluated, additional technical skills may be required, such as knowledge of specific evaluation methodologies, statistical analysis software, or subject matter expertise.
You might find people in your organization who have some of these skills and can support or conduct components of the analysis. You might also need to seek help from outside your organization, depending on the capacity and skills of your members.
The time required for an evaluation depends on a number of factors including the size of the project, the skills and areas of expertise available to you, and how much information is available to support the evaluation. The timing also depends on the report’s intended audience, whether it’s for internal use within your group or community, to supplement reporting to funders, or if your Case for Investment will receive a high level of scrutiny from funding sources. If this is your first robust evaluation, be aware that starting a new way of measuring outcomes requires some extra effort and resources.
To simplify the process, you could start by focusing on just one component of your activities or by planning future outcomes (forecasting a Case for Investment and ROI). If the report is only intended for internal planning, it doesn’t need to be as detailed or polished as one you’d share with everyone.
Making a full Case for Investment evaluation that covers multiple activities, many groups of people, or a large area can take several months. However, if your group already has effective methods of tracking performance or measuring social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts, the process will be quicker.
Who should complete the case for investment?
The Guidebook is best utilized by a project manager or coordinator, whether in a volunteer or professional position, who is overseeing the CBWM project. It is recommended that they seek input from staff, the organization’s board of directors, Indigenous communities/cultural leadership, and individuals actively involved in monitoring, such as volunteers and data users. The process may also require engagement and input from funders, community members, or others who are interested in using the data produced by the CBWM program.
Symbols guide
These symbols make it easier to navigate the toolkit and find key information quickly:
Example
Real-world applications to show how these concepts work in practice.
Helpful insights
Tips, notes for consideration, and incorporating Indigenous perspectives.
Caution
Alerts about common mistakes or challenges to help you avoid pitfalls and stay on track.