How can you be sure a counter- or alternative narrative campaign is not causing harm, but doing good? Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) are essential when wanting to know whether a counter- or alternative narrative campaign has been effective and impactful.
A clear M&E framework makes it possible to quickly adapt a campaign to changing circumstances and to assess whether its goals have been achieved. Practitioners, however, often struggle with how to make monitoring and evaluation possible in a practical, feasible and doable way without enormous budgets.
A key recommendation to properly evaluate the impact of a campaign is to invest enough time, money and expertise in the planning and monitoring phase. It is also important to establish a proper baseline assessment and theory of change. Furthermore, campaign owners and donors should work together in the campaign proposal phase to establish a realistic framework and expectations for M&E.
This ex post paper builds on the lessons learned from the RAN C&N meeting on ‘Monitoring & Evaluating counter- and alternative narrative campaigns’. It is written for first-line practitioners, communication specialists, campaign developers and evaluation experts who are planning a counter- or alternative narrative campaign. Read more
Downloads:
PDF Paper (also available in French and German)