Country: Georgia
Closing date: 10 Dec 2018
Europe Foundation (EPF) seeks an evaluation consultant to conduct an evaluation of its programming during 2014-2018, in order to assess whether and to what extent EPF’s programs and grant projects are contributing to the achievement of the Foundation’s mission and programmatic objectives. The impact evaluation has to be strategic, which means that the evaluator is not asked to produce separate program evaluations, but rather focus on the impact, sustainability, effectiveness, efficiency, and relevance of EPF’s overall programming, with attention to the value added of the Foundation’s interventions.
About Europe Foundation
EPF’s mission is to empower people to effect change for social justice and economic prosperity through hands-on programs, helping them to improve their communities and their own lives. To achieve its mission, EPF strives (1) to strengthen the capacity of individuals and institutions, empowering them to address pressing issues and (2) to mobilize relevant stakeholders in issue-based dialogue, through raising public awareness and creating various coalitions, platforms or working groups, so as to effect positive democratic change. EPF’s work is guided by the following approaches: (1) creating opportunities for civic participation in public policy making, (2) engaging youth, (3) fostering culture of corporate and community philanthropy, including through formation of public-private-NGO partnerships, (4) promoting evidence-based advocacy and decision making, and (5) building confidence across religious, ethnic, and community divides.
EPF’s programmatic and grantmaking interventions are guided by its mission and utilize its approaches. Some of its flagship programs include Engage and Monitor for Change, European Integration; Youth Integration; Social Enterprise; and Open Door Grantmaking. Together, they feed into achieving the Foundation’s mission and provide opportunities for Georgians to engage in social, economic, and political developments, in order to effect substantive and sustainable democratic change at the local and national level. Through these programs, and in tandem with a comprehensive institutional development strategy, EPF will implement its mission and, in the process, will unite local civil society’s efforts in the pursuit of our common goal: Georgia that is democratic, conflict-free, and with civically engaged citizens, socially responsible businesses, and sustainable, accountable, and effective third sector organizations.
Background
EPF operates with the belief that societies function best when people take responsibility for their own social and economic prosperity. EPF’s programs equip CSOs and individual civic activists to define and achieve outcomes of enduring benefit to themselves and their communities. We employ a demand-driven approach, which allows civil society actors to determine the issues that are of importance to their communities and to develop interventions that will be effective in addressing identified needs – a critical factor in a vibrant democracy. At the same time, EPF mobilizes communities and/or interest groups around specific issue areas to create demand for change.
EPF also believes that substantive and sustainable changes cannot be affected without issue-based partnerships between diverse groups of stakeholders. It is for this reason that EPF has made it its priority to nurture and promote public-private-NGO partnerships that contribute to consensus building and ensures participatory decision-making. Such partnerships are also essential for fostering long-term CSO sustainability to address societal needs.
EPF conducts operating programs and strategic grantmaking. The primary difference between the two is the locus of responsibility for program outputs and the mechanisms controlling financial expenditure. Grants allocate funding to outside partner organizations through a grant agreement and the responsibility for delivery of project outputs rests entirely with the grantee. In running operating programs, EPF directly manages project activities and takes upon itself ultimate responsibility for delivery of outputs and project results.
EPF’s grantmaking contributes to the achievement of the Foundation’s mission. To this effect, EPF supports demand-driven projects or new organizations with project ideas that fall within EPF’s programmatic or mandate areas at any time throughout the year. In addition, EPF also issues concrete requests for proposals (RFPs) to identify and support projects that contribute to a common programmatic theme.
Operating programs maintain EPF’s focus on revitalization of the civic sector and strengthening linkages between civic groups, private sector, public authorities, and communities, but they target these areas from a different angle than grants alone. They do so in three ways:
- When there is a need for a convener or an intermediary among stakeholders on an issue, EPF can bring various groups together to improve collective action;
- Operating programs allow for larger-scale, sustained interventions when a challenge cannot be addressed by a grants competition alone;
- Through operating programs, EPF can leverage the achievements of individual activities and programs by many actors for long term, sustainable impact in a targeted field.
EPF’s approach to grants management is more than just a mechanism for disbursing funds – it is a tool that ensures accountability and builds the institutional capacity and internal controls of partner organizations. Before grant implementation, EPF staff work jointly with grant applicants on project design, implementation schedules, and evaluation processes, including establishing baselines and indicators. EPF program staff guide organizations through the grants process, helping them to build and mobilize a constituency, run a public outreach campaign, and strengthen the administrative systems of an organization. The application process even builds capacity among those that are not ultimately funded. The process ensures both sound program implementation with concrete results, and longer-term sustainability of projects and grantee institutions. Some of the grantees are also able to take advantage of EPF’s Organizational Development Initiative, which provides more focused advice on how best to improve the institutional capacity of the targeted CSOs.
To achieve its mission and programmatic goals, EPF is supported by Sida, European Commission, USAID and other public and private donors, and is a member of the Eurasia Foundation (EF) Network: five local foundations supporting civil society that are based in Russia, Central Asia, the South Caucasus, Eastern Europe, and Washington, DC.
Evaluation Goal
The overall goal of the evaluation is to assess EPF’s work in Georgia, ascertaining whether its five programs have been able to achieve the programmatic objectives set forth in early 2014 and how they have contributed to the achievement of the Foundation’s mission of empowering people to effect change for social justice and economic prosperity through hands-on programs, helping them to improve their communities and their own lives. Namely, EPF would like to learn whether its efforts since 2014 have improved civil society capacity and long-term sustainability to address societal needs.
EPF expects this to be a strategic-level evaluation, which means that the evaluator is not asked to produce separate program evaluations, but rather focus on the impact, sustainability, effectiveness, efficiency, and relevance of EPF’s overall programming, with attention to the value added of the Foundation’s interventions at both strategic and implementation levels. It is expected that the evaluation will set baselines for the future impact evaluation in 4 years’ time.
EPF is eager to learn whether, how and to what extent its strategies and approaches have resulted in enhanced civic engagement and improved the capacity of Georgian civil society organizations. EPF is interested to ascertain performance and visibility levels of the Foundation’s work, as well as identify achievements during the past five years.
Evaluation Methodology
The consultant will be responsible for developing the evaluation design and methodology in order to meet the evaluation’s goal and objectives. Details about the approach and the data collection methods to be employed to undertake this task should be included in the bid. EPF expects that the consultant will conduct a participatory evaluation, providing for active and meaningful involvement of all stakeholders, namely the relevant EPF staff, partners, grantees, donors, etc. The evaluation is to be conducted following ethical practices in evaluation, which should be outlined in the proposal.
The work to be carried out by the consultant(s) will be based on the following four criteria:
Relevance, including the extent to which various problems and needs addressed by EPF’s programs are relevant in the Georgian context;
Effectiveness, including the extent to which the programs have been able to meet their objectives;
Impact, the extent to which the programs have been able to achieve their own programmatic impact and have contributed to the achievement of the Foundation’s mission.
Sustainability, the extent to which outcomes achieved have been sustained and/or are likely to be sustained in the future.
EPF documents available for review include files of the projects funded within its various programs, programmatic reports, publications, various assessment reports, and other program related documents. Most of the information is available in English. For broad overview of EPF’s work, please visit http://www.epfound.ge.
Timeframe and Reporting Requirements
The expected duration of the evaluation is maximum 4 months.
The consultant will produce the following deliverables (all in English):
Inception report, which will address the following components:
- Brief overview of the context and EPF’s work
- Expectations of evaluation
- Evaluation methodology and data collection methods (derived from methodology)
- Evaluation framework
- Synthesis of the collected data
- Indicative timeline
Data collection instruments
Draft of the evaluation report
Final report, which is to include the following sections:
- Executive summary (max. 2 pages);
- Evaluation summary in PPT form;
- Brief description of the context and EPF’s programming;
- Description of evaluation goals and objectives;
- Description of evaluation methodology and data collection tools utilized during the evaluation;
- Presentation of main findings and conclusions;
- Discussion of lessons learned;
- Recommendations;
- Annexes as provided in the inception report, including the reviewed project fiches, all data collection tools, list of interviewees, etc.
The draft report does not have to include executive summary and annexes. The evaluation report will be the sole property of EPF, which will retain the right to use it for internal and external purposes.
Budget
The evaluation budget can include expenses for transportation to and within Georgia, accommodation, per diem, and data collection (if applicable). The maximum available budget for this evaluation is USD 22,000. Price competitiveness will be a consideration during the selection process.
How to apply:
Request for Bids
EPF seeks bids from individuals or organizations to conduct this evaluation. Submissions should be made in English and should include the following:
- Detailed description of the applicant’s qualifications, with a list of previously undertaken assignments;
- Description and justification of the proposed evaluation methodology including sampling strategy, description of tools and techniques that will be used to collect and analyze information;
- Draft work plan and budget;
- Copy of a similar evaluation report completed by the applicant during the past three years.
Only complete applications will be considered.
Selection Criteria
EPF will select the winning candidate among the companies or individuals submitting a complete bid by the proposal deadline.
The selection criteria will include the following:
- Degree to which the proposal responds to the ToR;
- Quality of the proposed methodology;
- Qualifications of the applicant, including past experience in evaluation of similar program;
- Cost-effectiveness of the proposal;
- Feasibility of the proposed methodology and work plan.
Review Process
Proposals can be submitted by email to Lela Berdzuli, Program Associate at lberdzuli@epfound.ge. Please indicate “Impact Evaluation” in the subject line of your email. Interested persons who have questions about this tender should email their inquiries to nkhurtsidze@epfound.ge until November 26, 2018.
The deadline for the submission of applications is December 10, 2018, 17:00 Tbilisi time. EPF senior management, program, and evaluation staff will review the proposals.
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.