Value for Money and Civil Society Choose a colour This template can be used in one of four colours. To change the colour select Format > Slide Design from the menu toolbar. This will display the colour options on the right-hand side of your screen. Choose a colour and select Apply to All Slides. Add slides If you know how many slides you will need, set them up before you start to write into them. Select one of the slide formats in the left-hand column and from the menu toolbar click Edit > Duplicate (ctrl + D). A new slide will appear after the one you selected. Repeat until you have the number of slides of each format that you need. Drag and drop them into the right order. Add pictures First you need to crop your picture to the right size. Your presentation will look best if you keep to the given sizes: small pictures at 9cm square and big ones at 13.8 cm square. To crop a picture, double click it in My Computer so that it opens in Picture Manager. Choose Edit Picture from the menu. Choose Crop and move the corner bars till you’re happy – look at the pixels under Picture Dimensions to make sure you have a square (but don’t worry about the size at this point). Save As… to make sure you don’t lose your original. Bring your picture into the slide: Insert > Picture > From File. Make it the right size: Right-click the picture and choose Format Picture. Click the Size tab and set the width and height to 9cm or 13.8 cm. Compress it: Click Picture tab > Compress… and under Change resolution, click web/screen (this will keep down the total file-size and make your presentation easier to email and less prone to crashing). Position the photos as in the template, placing them between the dotted guides (if you can’t see the guides, choose from the menu View > Grid and Guides… and click ‘Display drawing guides on screen’). If your picture won’t crop to a square, crop and position it so that you keep the balance of the slide. Civil Society Department February 2011

Two questions posed by Bond: What does DFID want CSOs to do on VFM? What is DFID’s policy on VFM for CSOs?

What does DFID want to see CSOs doing on VFM? …..shared agenda, we want civil society organisations to be as effective as they can be in eradicating poverty.. …..same agenda for all organisations – multilaterals, governments etc Putting effectiveness at the heart of a CSO’s work: Having a clear vision Being clear about results Having sound, evolving partnerships Being well governed and having strong organisational processes Maximising value in everything an organisation does Objectives for CS no different to those of other actors – govts, private sector, donors etc

What does DFID want to see CSOs doing on VFM? Cont. Less about: Isolated used of methods or approaches eg SROI, DALYs, CBAs Analysis delinked from organisational processes Applying a VFM recipe book or step by step guidance VFM as an add on, discrete process or activity Blanket application of formulas and ratios More about Organisation-wide thinking Justifying your approach in your specific context Identifying options and prioritising areas for maximising value Continual commitment to learning and improving Piloting and monitoring Showing evidence and feedback loops Being practical

Myths about Value For Money It’s a race to the bottom – it’s not about what’s cheapest (eg use of volunteers) It hinders innovation and risk taking – should make risks and assumptions explicit as part of the theory of change, but also the potential opportunities for scaling up/wider application It encourages easy-to-measure programming choices – if the results chain is sound, should not drive particular sectors or projects further down the results chain. Example: Saying something is cheap doesn’t mean it offers VFM. Many proposals say we use volunteers instead of consultants, volunteers cost less, that is VFM. Only holds if can: Show you get the same or greater output from the volunteer (or at worst get 10% of the expected output if the cost of the volunteer is 10% of that of a consultant) Provide the total cost of the volunteer (ie their cost plus organisational support to place and manage them) compared to a consultant. You can justify the human resource issues raised.

What is DFID’s policy on VFM in its funding of NGOs? NAO: optimal use of resources to get desired outcomes Proposals need to explain in what ways funding will offer the maximum benefit for the resources requested. Consider and cost different options. All funding applications are scrutinized for VFM in terms of administrative and programme funding – this is not new. VFM considerations are part of funding decisions, but what is key is a sound proposal. “If a project/programme has been well thought through, then it is more likely to be scored highly in terms of value for money” Consistency - the budget, logframe and proposal need to tell a coherent story of change If a project/programme has been well thought through then it is more likely to be scored highly in terms of value for money

Ways to think about VFM: Be practical. Value for money is part of the overall assessment and can not be de-linked from other aspects of the assessment eg design, rationale Give sufficient information to assess VFM eg unit costs, costs per participant/trainee, cost effectiveness or rate of return, other options considered. Work through the programme with partners – VFM applies to all organisations receiving funding. Justify why the approach has been chosen in terms of providing the best value given the time and resources spent, the type of spend. Provide clear analysis of what VFM means for you eg type of organisation or spend, position on the results chain, geog spread Explain the nature of the project and the context as it relates to VFM – what are the real costs of ‘doing business’? eg harder to reach groups/areas, security concerns etc Demonstrate the institutional systems in place to assess/monitor VFM Have strong results focus – VFM flows from that. If the project has been well thought through then it is more likely to be scored highly in terms of value for money.

How can CSOs demonstrate value… Monetizing eg costs per beneficiary, unit costs and compare with industry/local standards where available. Extrapolate sensibly. Benchmarking Compare your costs against other CSO/govt/private sector provider and show how costs and benefits vary Showing efficiencies: % costs on activities compared to running cost, where budgets are being spent, staff based, outreach approaches etc Link to organisations presenting and talk through good specific egs from recent funding rounds eg WWF, Alliance, Cafod etc

Questions we ask of proposals…and of ourselves! Are there recent examples to show how CSOs ensure value for money in their work? Is there evidence to show that CSOs think about cost effectiveness in decision making and resource allocation? Is funding performance based within the organisation? Have CSOs used any comparators (either internal or external) to highlight value for money? Are robust monitoring and evaluation systems in place?

More questions…(continued) Is there evidence to show that CSOs are continually looking to improve value for money? How does the organisation control administrative costs? Is there evidence that the organisation achieves economy in purchase of inputs? Are robust financial management, accountability and auditing arrangements in place?

Conclusions Joint learning process – DFID doesn’t have the answers. But DFID is keen to share knowledge and lessons Continual improvement rather than a hurdle to jump over Should reinforce poverty and results focus, and enhance effective partnerships It’s building an organisational culture of VFM, with partners too. Trail blazing - much innovation and leadership in civil society

Leading the UK government’s fight against world poverty LONDON 1 Palace Street London SW1E 5HE EAST KILBRIDE Abercrombie House Eaglesham Road East Kilbride Glasgow G75 8EA Tel: +44 (0) 20 7023 0000 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7023 0016 Website: www.dfid.gov.uk E-mail: enquiry@dfid.gov.uk Public Enquiry Point: 0845 300 4100 If calling from abroad: +44 1355 84 3132