Make Poverty History Campaign Evaluation

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Make Poverty History Campaign Evaluation

• Andy Martin, Firetail Limited
• Bonn, March 2007

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Agenda

• The Campaign
• The Evaluation
• Objectives and Scope
• Structure
• Process
• Limitations
• Benefits
• Outputs
• Final Thoughts

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MakePovertyHistory
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The 2005 Campaign

• UK Presidencies of EU G8 (WTO, UN)
• Campaign Aid, Debt, Trade Justice
• 540 member coalition
• NGOs, Trades Union, Students Union, Faith groups,
  UK Voluntary organisations, development education
  organisations others
• NGO-led
• Year long programme of action
• White Band Days, Edinburgh Rally (G8), TV, New
  media, Trade Justice Lobby, WTO (Live8?)
• Massive public awareness and participation
• Bigger than anyone anticipated

Everyone knew that 2005 was a massive year for
development campaigning in the UK
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The Evaluation Objectives and scope

• Evaluation questions
• What progress did the coalition make against its
  objectives during 2005?
• What were the strengths and weaknesses of the
  coalitions approach and set up?
• What lessons can be learned for the future?

• The coalitions objectives
• Achieve policy change in the areas of more and
  better aid, debt relief and trade justice
• Create an unstoppable momentum for change in 2005
• Leave the public committed to further change
  beyond 2005

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How we did it

• Governance
• Commissioned by Co-ordination Team/BOND
• Independent, external
• Reporting to Co-ordination Team
• Interview - based
• Participative Anonymous
• Over 70 in depth interviews
• Three stream interview programme
• Internal, External, Local Campaigners
• Review of internal documentation
• Key minutes, policy notes, briefing documents
• Referencing existing quantitative research
• Long term attitudes work
• Alongside other MPH evaluations
• Media (Metrica), New Media (Fairsay)

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Structure of evaluation
3. Lessons learned
2. Approach Setup
1. Progress against objectives
Next Steps
Lessons Learned
Ways of working
Local Campaigners
External Perceptions
Background

• Consolidate/ Sustain in UK
• Trade
• Global mobilisation

• Leadership
• Managing relationships with others/ Govt/ Public
• Messages

• Impact on
• Unity, mobilisation, decision-making, resolving
  tensions
• Review of structures

• Achievements
• Policy change
• Coalition working
• Concerns

• Impact on public, politics and policy
• Reasons for impact
• Other observations

• Background
• History
• Key moments

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Limitations

• Stated in the evaluation
• Achieving a representative sample of opinion
• International impact
• Review of all communications activity
• Detailed long term impact on public awareness

Our approach has been deliberately
participative. Rather than seek to offer a
definite view, we have attempted to present the
consensus of internal and external opinion.

• On further reflection
• Not embedded in process
• Lack of reference points metrics
• Lack of consensus about what the evaluation was
  for
• Necessarily short term

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Benefits

• A focus on content not process
• The right approach for a large, fast moving and
  often informal campaign
• A neutral, external, target focused view
• Getting the balance right between breadth and
  focus
• Quick turnaround
• New news
• An attempt to be relevant
• Biased towards action, lesson learning and next
  steps
• A clear view of our audience (not public or govt)
• Providing a framework for some of the strategic
  questions faced by the coalition
• What was going to happen after MPH
• Campaigning challenges
• Effectiveness of activism
• but not saying anything people didnt know
• did we change anything?

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Outputs of the evaluation

• Public mobilisation
• Mass awareness and mass participation
• Parliamentary mobilisation
• Policy change
• Achievements on aid and debt. Little on trade.
• Ways of working
• Highly decentralised and consensual
• Good at Promoting coalition unity, mobilising
  supporters, harnessing the energy of supporters
• Not so good at Resolving tension, taking
  strategic decisions. Heavy demands on people
• Four areas of challenge
• Leadership model
• Co-ordinating responses
• Public momentum
• British campaign

Most lessons to take from the year are
definitely positive. The question is how to
maintain this now youre in a different era
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Final thoughts

• Content not process
• Evaluation was not built into the campaign from
  the start
• This may have been impossible not advantageous
• Scope
• Theres never enough time or money
• Time spent working on scope was vital
• Feeding back
• The campaign was received rather than signed
  off
• The coalition then disbanded
• Who took responsibility for what happened next?
• Next steps
• Were we right to put these in?
• At least it wasnt left on the shelf
• Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
• Who evaluates the evaluation?

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Judge for yourself

• BOND website
• http//www.bond.org.uk/campaign/mph.htm
• Campaign Evaluation
• Media Evaluation
• New Media Evaluation
• Verdict statements
• Policy demands