Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Partner
Supporting Friends of the Earth to develop their campaign impact framework and embed it across the organisation.
The Task
Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FoE EWNI) commissioned support to co-develop and embed a Campaign Impact Framework (CIF) to strengthen how it understands, demonstrates and learns from its campaigning.
With multiple campaigns operating across climate and energy, nature and environment and rights and justice, FoE wanted a coherent organisation-wide framework that could define impact consistently, align campaign objectives to strategy, and enable aggregation of results and learning across the campaign package. The framework needed to embed Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) into campaign management, planning and reporting cycles while remaining practical and usable for campaign teams.
The process
We used a structured, co-production methods, combining framework design and real-time testing and adaptation.
Inception and diagnostic: We began with a review of 17 strategic and planning documents and consultations with campaign leads, senior leadership, and departmental heads. This phase clarified expectations, surfaced challenges in existing MEL practices and agreed guiding principles for the framework.
Co-development of the framework- a facilitated process: Through 3 cross-organisational workshops and 12 consultations, we co-developed the framework consisting of three interconnected Domains of Change: movement building, policy, laws and practice, and organisational success and sustainability. Then teams developed a set of success metrics (defining what success looks like for each domain of change). The Thematic Strategic Groups tested and refined the success metrics and developed key learning questions. This process aimed to promote organisational-wide ownership and relevance.
Designing review and evaluation processes: We developed annual and three-year impact review processes to create structured reflection at campaign, thematic and campaign package levels. These were aligned to existing governance structures to ensure learning would inform decision-making and planning.
Piloting in live campaigns: The CIF was piloted with three campaigns at different stages and scales. This tested how the framework shaped theory of change development, objective-setting, indicator selection and MEAL planning in practice.
Development of the practice implementation guide: Feedback from campaign teams was used to develop a structured guide to practically using the framework throughout the campaign management cycle.
The Result
The collaborative process delivered an organisation-wide Campaign Impact Framework that provides a shared analytical lens across FoE’s campaign package.
The CIF guide connects campaign design, delivery, governance and reporting. It enables aggregation of evidence across thematic areas, strengthens strategic oversight and supports clearer articulation of FoE’s contribution to change. The framework aims to foster a more consistent culture of learning, accountability and evidence-based decision-making and adaptation.
Project Lead: Joanna Knight
In collaboration with: The FOE Campaign team
Themes: Theory of Change; MEL framework; Learning together; Strategize together
“Jo has been an excellent partner throughout this process. Her expertise and patience made the co-creation of our campaign impact framework both smooth and insightful. Jo has guided the testing of the framework in real scenarios and supervised improvements the tools, so we now have a practical and meaningful tool for understanding and improving our impact."
Tanya Savini, Head of Campaign Delivery, Friends of the Earth