FUNDRAISING, MONITORING AND EVALUATION TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR CIVIL SOCIETY ACTORS IN COTE DIVOIRE

WORKSHOP EVALUATION REPORT Prepared by Adama Bah

1-3 September, 2009- Abidjan, Cote dIvoire.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction 2. Overall Course Delivery 3. Course Content 4. Recommendations on how the Toolkit can be Improved 5. Course Duration 6. Assessment of Resource Persons 7. Follow up Activities by M&E Resource person 8. Challenges 9. Immediate Impact 10.Recommendations from Participants 11. In-Country Challenges

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1. INTRODUCTION The West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) in collaboration with the Coalition de la Socit
Civile pour la Paix et le Dveloppement Dmocratique en Cote dIvoire (COSOPCI) and La Convention de la Socit Civile Ivoirienne (CSCI) supported by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA)

organised a Fundraising and Monitoring and Evaluation training workshop for 27 representatives of civil society organisations in Cote dIvoire, Abidjan. The overall objective of the workshop was to provide participants with knowledge and skills in strengthening on planning, strategising and implementing fundraising approaches; identifying funding sources and appropriate techniques to secure funds from donors and philanthropists; addressing challenges civil society face in fundraising; understanding the fundamentals of designing and implementing a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system for a project or an organisation; and providing a comprehensive overview of a sample of M&E tools, methods, and approaches, including their purpose and use; advantages and disadvantages and key references. The evaluation outcomes of the workshop are highlighted below.

2. OVERALL COURSE DELIVERY Areas of Assessment Percentage Rating Outcomes of Participants Very Satisfied Not Satisfied Satisfied
55% 14% 55% 59% 27% 41% 45% 82% 45% 41% 73% 55% 4% 4%

1. Workshop Objectives 2. Course Toolkit 3. Course Delivery 4. Workshop Methodology (lectures, discussions and exercises)

PARTICIPANT EXPLANATIONS FOR RESPONSES 1. Workshop Objectives The workshop enabled the participants to have clear understanding of Fundraising and the importance of monitoring and evaluation.
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The workshop has given the trainees the necessary tools in writing concept notes and project proposals. The workshop helped the participants to realise the importance of so many issues they ignored while searching for funds and understanding monitoring and evaluation of their various interventions.

2. Course Toolkit The trainees were satisfied with the Satisfied with the toolkit.

3. Course Delivery The subject areas were explained in a simple and practical manner. The resource persons delivered the various sessions in a concise and enlightening manner. The lectures were highly interactive.

4. Workshop Methodology The exercises enhanced the learning process. The discussions facilitated peer learning and experience sharing; The lectures were interactive and engaging;

3. COURSE CONTENT
Topics Covered Percentage Rating Outcomes of Participants Very useful, am Satisfied with Not very satisfied this topic, may satisfied, be useful may not be useful 64% 36% 77% 86% 23% 77% 60% 46% 68% 23% 14% 59% 23% 36% 36% 23% 18% 4% 18% 9%
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1. Essentials of Project Management and Development

2. Conceptualising Fundraising 3. Developing a Fundraising Strategy 4. Social Media and Fundraising

5. Effective Fundraising In the CSO Sector 6. Private Consultations Donors/Philanthropists 7. Project Proposal Writing 8. Monitoring And Evaluation Theories And with

Processes 9. Techniques For Planning For Monitoring And Evaluation 10. Tools, Methods And Approaches For Monitoring And Evaluation 11. Designing A Monitoring Evaluation Process 12. Collecting, analysing Information 13. Case Studies evaluation on and And/Or reporting and

81% 64% 45% 50% 50% 50%

18% 32% 45% 50% 45% 36%

4% 10% 5% 14%

monitoring

14. Difficulties/Challenges of Monitoring and Evaluation.

4. RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW THE TOOLKIT CAN BE IMPROVED

1. Participants were satisfied with the structure and contents of the toolkit.

5. COURSE DURATION Percentage Rating Outcomes of Participants Too Long Too Short About Right
68% 32%

6. ASSESSMENT OF RESOURCE PERSONS

1. Patient, courteous and took into consideration participants concerns. 2. The resource persons were well experienced and knowledgeable, excellent and mostly pleasant to listen to. 3. They have extensive knowledge about the topics they presented and utilized an effective methodology in transferring it to the participants. 4. The resource persons provided an adequate platform for participants to share ideas and experiences. 5. Determination of resource persons for CSOs to undertake institutional change was the thrust of their delivering.
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6. The resource persons were able to articulate the various components of the course in a clear, concise and contextual manner. 7. The high level of engagement and quality of discussions were as a result of the training competencies of the resource persons. 8. The resource persons were open-minded and had good listening skills.

7. FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES BY RESOURCE PERSON The Monitoring and Evaluation Resource Person committed to helping trainees structure monitoring and evaluation system for their various organistions. 8. CHALLENGES
Most participants had insufficient knowledge of Monitoring and evaluation processes and project proposal writing.

9. IMMEDIATE IMPACTS
Most of the participants remarked that they were not managing their various organisations well and this is due to the lack of knowledge. The participants committed to organizing in-house training to build staff capacities based on what was learnt.

10.RECOMMENDATIONS FROM PARTICIPANTS

More training should be organised for the Civil Society Organisations in Cote dIvoire especially in the field of good governance.

11. IN-COUNTRY CHALLENGES (Cote dIvoire)

Lack of strong and reliable partners in the targeted country. Processes of payment to service providers has proven to be very tedious.