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Watch this 6 min. video for a general overview of the Monitoring & Evaluation Guidance for Advocacy/Influencing, and the Advocacy and Influencing Impact Reporting (AIIR) Tool.

In order to unpack the WHO, WHAT, HOW and WHY of social change, CARE has developed a list of MEL standards as guidance when creating a MEL framework. In accordance to those standards, we have created additional guidance with tools and resources that pertain to CARE’s advocacy work. It is evident that advocacy and influencing work will play a large role as we aim to multiply our impact. Therefore, the need for MEL in advocacy work is more important than ever.

This document aims to provide guidance for staff to monitor and evaluate the effects of CARE’s advocacy and influencing work. Rather than presenting a step by step guide, the following provides a series of options to choose from, depending on who you are trying to influence, how you aim to influence, how you want to capture the effects of this effort, and what resources you have to achieve this.

There are hundreds of different tools that different organizations have used to measure the effects of their advocacy and influencing work. Each tool is designed for a different purpose, and there are always trade-offs in the choices you make. So, we recommend considering the following when you make your choice:

1. What questions do you want to answer about your initiative, and why the answers matter?
2. What are the characteristics of the initiative?
3. What do you need the evidence for and who needs it?
4. What approaches and methods are available to best answer your questions?
5. What level of capacities and resources are available?

Keep in mind, there is no best method for MEL within advocacy and influencing work. Each method and tool has strengths and weaknesses. So, we recommend you apply a combination of methods and tools. Feel free to reach out to Andrew Wells-Dang for any questions or support in applying the tools.

CARE’s Power Tools are a set of proven and tested resources that provide guidance on how to implement effective advocacy tactics. All of CARE’s Power Tools have been used successfully by a CARE Country Office or set of offices to achieve an advocacy win, and can be utilized by colleagues, partners and advocates at different stages of their advocacy efforts. CARE’s Power Tools demonstrate the inspiring achievements of our passionate and dedicated colleagues and partners and provide a platform for sharing these achievements and the lessons learned with CARE offices and partner organizations.

The AIIR tool gathers information and evidence on CARE’s advocacy wins. It should be completed by country office (or CI member) staff after we achieve an advocacy win. Examples include influencing government policies at national or local level; influencing governments, donors or NGOs to adopt a CARE program model; or influencing the private sector to change their company policies or operating practices. (See the CARE International Advocacy Handbook for more information and definitions of advocacy). CARE's program activities and fundraising successes are not advocacy wins in themselves, though they may be steps contributing to a win.

This tool captures the significance of the win, the level of contribution of CARE and our partners, the impact (who stands to benefit from the change), and the evidence to support these claims. The AIIR tool is linked to the annual PIIRS IMPACT form for indicator 20 on advocacy and policy change. Like PIIRS, the tool should be updated in subsequent years to capture evidence of actual impact of the policy change.

AIIR tool in ENGLISH aiir_tool_2020_final_eng.docx

AIIR tool in FRENCH aiir_tool_2020_final_fr.docx

AIIR tool in SPANISH aiir_tool_2020_final_esp.docx

AIIR tool in ARABIC aiir_tool_2020_final_ar.docx

Additional resources and tools can be found on CARE Shares here.

The AIIR tool has also been useful in developing advocacy success stories across CARE. If you are interested in developing an advocacy success story based on a completed AIIR tool, reach out to Andrew Wells-Dang.

Webinar hosted by the MEL Advocacy Working Group on reporting advocacy into PIIRS for FY18

PowerPoint that was used to guide the discussion: webinar_on_reporting_advocacy_into_piirs.pptx