Reporting to Funders

Turning a project's evidence into a defensible account of what changed, for whom, and through what pathway. Set up at the start, run throughout, closed with proof.

Most projects can tell a funder what they did. Fewer can show what changed because of it, for whom, and whether it will last. The Lab runs the discipline as an independent partner, on commissioned work and on European projects with a Grant Agreement to satisfy.

Monitoring, Evaluation & Dissemination

Monitoring

Continuous tracking while the project is running. Answers "are we on course?" in time to change course.

Evaluation

Periodic structured judgement of whether it is working, and why. Answers "is this the right thing, and will it last?"

Dissemination

Getting results to the audiences who can use them, in a form they can act on. Evidence that stays in a final report has failed at the last step.

Designed together from day one, they make a project legible to itself and credible to everyone else.

Read the underlying methods Monitoring, Evaluation & Dissemination → European Impact Tracking →

Built on established science

  • Theory of change. Every design begins by making the causal logic explicit: inputs → activities → outputs → outcomes → impact. Naming the chain in advance is what lets you test it later (W.K. Kellogg Foundation, UNDP).
  • OECD-DAC criteria. Six standard criteria: relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, sustainability. The shared donor language.
  • Reach, depth, experience. Three dimensions from Measuring Change, so evaluation stays attentive to distribution and equity.
  • Baselines and mixed methods. Impact is a change, and a change needs a before. Every design captures a baseline with the same instrument used later.

For European projects

Flag of the European Union - twelve gold stars in a circle on a blue field.
For projects funded by the European Union Independent measurement designed to satisfy funder review, survive audit, and tell the project team something true. See the European Impact Tracking service →

Europe funds innovation at a scale unmatched anywhere. The evidence of what it changed too often lags the funding. Horizon Europe treats communication, dissemination and exploitation as three distinct required activities under Article 17 of the Model Grant Agreement, with a Plan for Dissemination and Exploitation (PDEC) typically due by month 6. The most common evaluator criticism is conflating the three into one vague block.

The Lab acts as the independent measurement partner:

  • Set up at the start. Theory of change, indicator framework, baseline, clean separation of communication / dissemination / exploitation.
  • Run throughout. Continuous monitoring against indicators, midlines that let the consortium steer while there is still time, an evidence trail mapped to periodic reporting.
  • Close with proof. An endline against DAC criteria and the project's own targets, with dissemination that reaches the intended audiences and the documentation to show it.

Common failure modes

  • No baseline. "Before" reconstructed from memory at the end. Fix with the impact-tracking template at design.
  • Inconsistent methods. Every partner measures differently, so results cannot be compared.
  • Output mistaken for impact. Workshops delivered is an activity, not an outcome.
  • The people most affected are rarely heard. The interview guide is the reach principle in practice.
  • Self-assessment strains credibility. Independent measurement counters it.
  • Evidence arrives too late. End-of-project findings land after every decision has been made.

What you receive

  • Clean, well-documented data in the format that fits your team.
  • A written analysis that states plainly what the evidence shows and what it cannot.
  • The instruments themselves (surveys, interview guides, indicator sets) so the study can be repeated.
  • Dissemination assets carried to the audiences who can use them.
  • A defensible reporting spine mapped to DAC criteria and the project's own targets.

Turnaround in weeks, not seasons.

Who this is for

European consortia Funders Public bodies NGOs

Connect with the Lab

If this reads close to a decision you are weighing, we would like to hear about it. A short note is enough to start.

Entering a new contextA first read of a market, technology or region. Measuring changeField measurement that connects action to outcome. Reporting to fundersEvidence packaged for the reader who will act on it.
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The Lab is an independent research team, not an advocacy organisation. We do not campaign, endorse products, or accept commissions where a finding is expected in advance. Where a partner's own theory of change is what needs testing, that is a legitimate engagement, and the Lab tests it honestly.