Success Stories from Our Members in the field

Got Effectiveness? Prove it! Christian Children's Fund

Effectiveness and accountability have become the watchword for U.S. overseas assistance programs, and Americans say time and again they expect the government to weigh all aid expenditures against that standard. The Christian Children's Fund is one American nongovernmental organization that has been at the forefront of ensuring that its programs rise to that standard.

Through its annual Impact Monitoring Evaluation System, CCF developed a way to measure the performance of its programs. In many cases, CCF has found that careful tracking of success indicators can reveal areas for improvement that might not have been apparent at first. CCF is now using its innovative new evaluation system in 21 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The monitoring system measures two kinds of indicators: factors that could contribute to better health standards, such as tetanus immunization; access to clean water and school attendance; and actual measures of wellbeing, such as mortality in children under five or women's literacy rates. With self-sustainability as a standard, CCF has also identified an exit strategy for each of its programs.

This data helps CCF determine what kinds of assistance leads to the best results. For example, between 1997 and 2000 in CCF-affiliated projects, the number of children that died before they reached five years decreased from 8 percent to 6 percent. In the same period, the overall literacy of women rose from 68 percent to 72 percent.

The days of unfocused or unaccountable overseas assistance are gone. With careful monitoring, through such programs as the one developed by the Christian Children's Fund, American humanitarian and development groups can be more confident that they are being responsible to their donors and responsive to their recipients.