​Many development programme staff experience the common problem of commissioning an impact evaluation towards the end of a programme only to find that the monitoring system failed to provide adequate data.

This guidance note looks at:

• what an impact-oriented monitoring and evaluation system entails
• why an organisation may want to establish such a system
• when integrating an impact-orientation into an monitoring and evaluation system is most useful
• what should be considered in developing the monitoring and evaluation system, or in tweaking an existing system, to become more impact-focused.